Newton King (21 July 1855 – 27 July 1927) was a New Zealand auctioneer, merchant and businessman. He was born in

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. ...

, New Zealand, on 21 July 1855. King was born in

into a leading local family. His father, Thomas King, 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 ...

and Provincial Treasurer on the Taranaki Provincial Council, as well as being a prominent local businessman. His brother,

Truby King Sir Frederic Truby King (1 April 1858 – 10 February 1938), generally known as Truby King, was a New Zealand health reformer and Director of Child Welfare. He is best known as the founder of the Plunket Society. Early life King was born in N ...

was a leading doctor and paediatrician, and founder of the

Plunket Society The Royal New Zealand Plunket Trust provides a range of free services aimed at improving the development, health and wellbeing of children under the age of five within New Zealand, where it is commonly known simply as Plunket. Its mission is "t ...

. After education at William Crompton's school, he became a clerk at the mercantile and shipping company Webster Brothers, before co-founding his own

stock and station agency Stock and station agencies are businesses which provide a support service to the agricultural community. Their staff who deal with clients are known as stock and station agents.In his book Simon Ville states: "The term stock and station agent is va ...

with Robert Bauchope in 1880. The new business, Newton King Limited, took off and expanded, becoming leading rural auctioneers and dealing in both seed and grain and in imports and exports. In 1900, retail branches were established throughout

Taranaki Taranaki is a region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano of Mount Taranaki, also known as Mount Egmont. The main centre is the city of New Plymouth. The New Plymouth Dist ...

. In 1888 King was one of the founders of the Crown Dairy Company, along with James George and Richard Cock, and by 1897 it was New Zealand second largest dairy product company. Newton King was a strong supporter of development of New Plymouth harbour and was chairman of the harbour board from 1917 to 1922. A wharf completed in 1925 was named after him. Newton King died at his home, Brooklands, in 1927, survived by his wife, three sons and two daughters.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:King, Newton 1855 births 1927 deaths New Zealand stock and station agents New Zealand businesspeople People from New Plymouth New Zealand auctioneers