Rev. Leonard Monk Isitt (4 January 1855 – 29 July 1937) was a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

of the

New Zealand Liberal Party The New Zealand Liberal Party was the first organised political party in New Zealand. It governed from 1891 until 1912. The Liberal strategy was to create a large class of small land-owning farmers who supported Liberal ideals, by buying larg ...

.Obituary in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'', ''Mr L. M. Isitt'', 15 September 1937, p.17 He was a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

minister and an advocate of prohibition (temperance), in association with

Tommy Taylor Thomas Taylor (29 January 1932 – 6 February 1958) was an English footballer, who was known for his aerial ability. He was one of the eight Manchester United players who died in the Munich air disaster. Career Taylor was born in Smithies, ...

and his brother, Rev. Frank Isitt.

Early life

He was born in

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

, England, in 1855. His parents were James Isitt, a butcher, and Rebecca Isitt (née Cole). He lost his father at age two and his mother when he was twelve. He was educated at

Bedford Modern School Bedford Modern School (often called BMS) is a Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference independent school in Bedford, England. The school has its origins in Bedford Charity, The Harpur Trust, born from the financial endowment, endowments le ...

. His brother Frank emigrated to New Zealand in 1870 as a Methodist minister, and in 1875, Leonard Isitt followed him. His brother's daughter,

Kate Isitt Kate Isitt is an English actress who is perhaps best known for her role as beauty therapist Sally Harper in the BBC television situation comedy ''Coupling''. From 1995–1998, she played Alison, a secretary in a solicitors' office, in '' Is It ...

, later worked for him as his private secretary.

Member of Parliament

Leonard Isitt took over Taylor's parliamentary electorate of

Christchurch North Christchurch North is a former New Zealand parliamentary New Zealand electorates, electorate. The electorate comprised the northern half of what is now considered the Christchurch Central City. Population centres The previous electoral redistrib ...

in a 1911 by-election after Tommy Taylor died. He held the seat, first as an

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

then as a

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

until he retired in 1925. Isitt was a member of the Legislative Council from 1925 to his death in 1937. Isitt and

George Witty George Witty (1856 – 21 November 1941) was a New Zealand Member of Parliament for Riccarton, in the South Island. Early life He was born in North Ferriby, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England and came to New Zealand in 1875 with two shill ...

were both appointed to the Legislative Council by

Gordon Coates Joseph Gordon Coates (3 February 1878 – 27 May 1943) served as the 21st prime minister of New Zealand from 1925 to 1928. He was the third successive Reform prime minister since 1912. Born in rural Northland, Coates grew up on a cattle run ...

on 28 October 1925; shortly before the 1925 election on 4 November. Both were

s but their retirement removed "a source of some bitterness from the Party’s ranks".

was Reform, and both of their former seats went to

Reform Reform ( lat, reformo) means the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The use of the word in this way emerges in the late 18th century and is believed to originate from Christopher Wyvill#The Yorkshire Associati ...

candidates. After Witty, Henry Holland of the Reform Party represented the Christchurch North electorate. In 1935, he was awarded the

King George V Silver Jubilee Medal The King George V Silver Jubilee Medal is a commemorative medal, instituted to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the accession of King George V. Issue This medal was awarded as a personal souvenir by King George V to commemorate his Silver J ...

Family and death

Isitt married Agnes Caverhill on 14 May 1881 at

New Plymouth New Plymouth ( mi, Ngāmotu) is the major city of the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after the English city of Plymouth, Devon from where the first English settlers to New Plymouth migrated. ...

. Her parents were

Frances Frances is a French and English given name of Latin origin. In Latin the meaning of the name Frances is 'from France' or 'free one.' The male version of the name in English is Francis. The original Franciscus, meaning "Frenchman", comes from the ...

and John Caverhill. They had two sons and one daughter. Frances Isitt (1889–1960) was their eldest child. Sir Leonard Isitt (1891–1976) became a prominent Air Force commander. Willard Isitt (1894–1916), a rifleman in the New Zealand Rifle Brigade, was killed during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

in France on 31 October 1916. Their daughter was the mother to Sir Leonard Thornton who became Chief of Defence Staff for the

New Zealand Defence Force The New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF; mi, Te Ope Kātua o Aotearoa, "Line of Defence of New Zealand") are the armed forces of New Zealand. The NZDF is responsible for the protection of the national security of New Zealand and her realm, prom ...

. Leonard Isitt died on 29 July 1937 in Christchurch and was buried at Linwood Cemetery. His wife died a year later at their residence in Cashmere.

Footnotes

Notes

References

* *

External links

Photo of Rev Leonard Isitt
{{DEFAULTSORT:Isitt, Leonard 1855 births 1937 deaths People educated at Bedford Modern School 19th-century Methodist ministers Burials at Linwood Cemetery, Christchurch Independent MPs of New Zealand Members of the New Zealand Legislative Council English emigrants to New Zealand New Zealand journalists New Zealand Liberal Party MPs New Zealand Methodists New Zealand temperance activists New Zealand Liberal Party MLCs New Zealand MPs for Christchurch electorates People from Bedford Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives Isitt–Caverhill family

Early life

Member of Parliament

Family and death

Footnotes

Notes

References

Further reading

Works by Isitt

Works about Isitt

Further reading notes

External links