Richard Seaward Cantrell (1825 – 11 August 1872) was a 19th-century

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 ...

from

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

, New Zealand. Cantrell was born in England in 1825. He arrived in Dunedin in 1858 and took over the Commercial Hotel in December of that year. Cantrell was one of four candidates in the in the Caversham electorate, coming second but being decisively beaten by

Arthur John Burns Arthur John Burns (22 October 1830 – 15 September 1901) was a prominent early settler of Otago, New Zealand, a member of the Otago Provincial Council, a member of the New Zealand House of Representatives and founder of the Mosgiel Woollen Compa ...

. Burns resigned after four years but Cantrell did not stand in the resulting 1870 Caversham by-election. The by-election was won by

James McIndoe James McIndoe (1824 – 4 September 1905) was a 19th-century Member of Parliament from Dunedin, New Zealand. Born in Rothesay, Bute, Scotland, McIndoe emigrated to Otago in New Zealand in 1859. He was elected as a member of the Otago Provin ...

and at the , Cantrell defeated McIndoe. On 27 March 1871, Cantrell was one of five candidates for the

Otago Provincial Council The Otago Province was a province of New Zealand until the abolition of provincial government in 1876. The capital of the province was Dunedin. Southland Province split from Otago in 1861, but became part of the province again in 1870. Area an ...

, also for the Caversham electorate. He comfortably won this election. Cantrell represented the (parliamentary) Caversham electorate until 1872, when he resigned due to ill health. He sent his resignation from Dunedin by mail on 1 August and while the resignation was read out by the speaker on 6 August, it took effect on 31 July (i.e. the day prior to sending it; presumably the date shown on the letter). He had also resigned from the provincial council, but as the council was out of session (the 30th session had finished on 31 May), the resignation could not be processed and his representation ended with his death. At the provincial council, three candidates contested the resulting by-election on 15 August:

Robert Stout Sir Robert Stout (28 September 1844 – 19 July 1930) was a New Zealand politician who was the 13th premier of New Zealand on two occasions in the late 19th century, and later Chief Justice of New Zealand. He was the only person to hold both ...

(149 votes),

Henry Fish Henry Smith Fish (15 July 1838 – 23 September 1897) was a 19th-century New Zealand politician. For a time, he was a member of the Liberal Party. He was Mayor of Dunedin for a total of six years. Smith is remembered as one of the staunch oppo ...

(110 votes), and

Richard Henry Leary Richard Henry Leary (3 November 1840 – 14 May 1895) was Mayor of Dunedin from 1877 to 1878, and again from 1886 to 1887. Born in Southall, London on 3 November 1840, Leary emigrated in 1854 to Victoria, where he worked in the timber trade and ...

(90 votes), with Stout thus elected. Cantrell's parliamentary resignation caused the

1872 Caversham by-election The 1872 Caversham by-election was a by-election held on 28 August 1872 in the electorate in the Otago region of New Zealand during the 5th New Zealand Parliament. The by-election was caused by the resignation of the incumbent Richard Cantrell, ...

, which was held on 28 August and won by William Tolmie. Cantrell did not live to see either by-election; he died on 11 August aged 47 years. As

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

of a volunteer unit (South District Rifles), he received a military funeral. He was survived by a family of six sons and two daughters.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cantrell, Richard 1825 births 1872 deaths Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand MPs for Dunedin electorates 19th-century New Zealand politicians Unsuccessful candidates in the 1866 New Zealand general election Members of the Otago Provincial Council