Robert Gillies (31 July 1835 – 15 June 1886) 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 ...

Otago Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

, New Zealand. He was born in

Rothesay Rothesay ( ; gd, Baile Bhòid ) is the principal town on the Isle of Bute, in the council area of Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It lies along the coast of the Firth of Clyde. It can be reached by ferry from Wemyss Bay, which offers an onward rail ...

on the Isle of Bute, Scotland. He failed to win the

Bruce The English language name Bruce arrived in Scotland with the Normans, from the place name Brix, Manche in Normandy, France, meaning "the willowlands". Initially promulgated via the descendants of king Robert the Bruce (1274−1329), it has been a ...

electorate at the , and won the seat at the general by a majority of 217. He resigned in 1885 for failing health, which caused the 1885 Bruce by-election. He died on 15 June 1886 from an

aneurysm An aneurysm is an outward bulging, likened to a bubble or balloon, caused by a localized, abnormal, weak spot on a blood vessel wall. Aneurysms may be a result of a hereditary condition or an acquired disease. Aneurysms can also be a nidus (s ...

of the heart. He was the brother of

Thomas Gillies Thomas Bannatyne Gillies (17 January 1828 – 26 July 1889) was a 19th-century New Zealand lawyer, judge and politician. Early life He was born at Rothesay on the Isle of Bute, Scotland, on 17 January 1828. He was the eldest of nine children of ...

and

John Lillie Gillies John Lillie Gillies (1832 – 27 September 1897) was a 19th-century Member of Parliament from the Otago region of New Zealand. He was from Rothesay, Bute on the Isle of Bute, Scotland. Gillies was a member of the Otago Provincial Council, rep ...

, and the father of plastic surgeon

Harold Gillies Sir Harold Delf Gillies (17 June 1882 – 10 September 1960) was a New Zealand otolaryngologist and father of modern plastic surgery. Early life Gillies was born in Dunedin, New Zealand, the son of Member of Parliament in Otago, Robert Gillies ...

. Robert was buried in the Northern Cemetery.

Family

He was one of the eight children (5 sons and 3 daughters) of Isabella (née Lillie) and John Gillies (born Rothesay on 22 April 1802). His father was a lawyer and a member of

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 ...

. Robert spent a year at Glasgow University in 1851, but his father then decided to emigrate. They reached Otago on the

barque A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel with three or more mast (sailing), masts having the fore- and mainmasts Square rig, rigged square and only the mizzen (the aftmost mast) Fore-and-aft rig, rigged fore and aft. Som ...

Slains Castle Slains Castle may refer to one of two ruined castles in Aberdeenshire, Scotland: * Old Slains Castle, a 13th-century castle was originally the property of the Comyn Earls of Buchan, near Collieston *New Slains Castle, a 16th-century tower house, b ...

, on 6 November 1852 and bought at

Halfway Bush Halfway Bush is a suburb of the New Zealand city of Dunedin. It is located to the northwest of the city centre, close to the point at which Taieri Road becomes the winding rural Three Mile Hill Road. It was this road which gave the suburb its n ...

as a family home, and at Riversdale,

Milton Milton may refer to: Names * Milton (surname), a surname (and list of people with that surname) ** John Milton (1608–1674), English poet * Milton (given name) ** Milton Friedman (1912–2006), Nobel laureate in Economics, author of '' Free t ...

. In 1866 Robert married, Emily Street, the daughter of his business partner. Charles Henry Street (1824-1887 Emily was a niece of

Edward Lear Edward Lear (12 May 1812 – 29 January 1888) was an English artist, illustrator, musician, author and poet, who is known mostly for his literary nonsense in poetry and prose and especially his limerick (poetry), limericks, a form he popularised. ...

, the nonsense writer and landscape painter. Emily, who had moved to Dunedin with her parents and grandparents when aged 5, was a founder of the first kindergarten in

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 ...

, and took a keen interest in charitable works. After Robert's death in 1886, Emily moved her family from Dunedin to

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

. By 1902, the children had grown up and she bought part of her mother's Birtley estate. In 1905, the wedding of Emily Sophia Gillies (their eldest daughter) and Robert Williams Michell was held at her new Parnell house, Kohanga. In November 1911, Emily Gillies sold Kohanga, following the death of her mother, Mrs Street, earlier that year. She moved into Birtley, the home she had inherited from her parents, where she remained until her death on 7 September 1913, aged 65. Emily and Robert had eight children: * Charles Stuart Gillies helped found the Auckland Golf Club in 1894, was a lawyer and golf champion and died of

meningitis Meningitis is acute or chronic inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, collectively called the meninges. The most common symptoms are fever, headache, and neck stiffness. Other symptoms include confusion or ...

* George John Gillies * Robert Craig Gillies was a sheep farmer at

Hakataramea Hakataramea, spelt Hakateramea in some older sources, is a rural village located in the southern Canterbury region of New Zealand's South Island. It is in the Waimate District and sits on the north bank of the Waitaki River at its confluence wi ...

* Arthur William Gillies was elected mayor of

Hāwera Hāwera is the second-largest centre in the Taranaki region of New Zealand's North Island, with a population of . It is near the coast of the South Taranaki Bight. The origins of the town lie in a government military base that was established i ...

in 1912, started the development of

Kawaha Point Kawaha Point is a suburb of Rotorua in the Bay of Plenty Region of New Zealand's North Island. History In 1910 the area was used for growing potatoes. In 1917 a son of businessman and politician, Robert Gillies, Arthur William Gillies (1871- ...

at Rotorua and became a stockbroker in Auckland * Harry Thomas Gillies was Crown Prosecutor at

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

for 36 years from 1910 * Emily Sophia Michell was at

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

and a golf champion, who died in France * Eleanor Lillie Bowen was at Parnell, a golf champion and worked with charities for the blind in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

* Dr Harold D Gillies

Business

Robert worked on the family's Milton farm and helped form the

Agricultural Society. Later he farmed at Awamoko, near Duntroon, where he bred Leicester sheep. From 1857 to 1860 he worked for Otago Provincial Surveying Department, being one of the first to discover gold on the banks of several streams. In 1861 he joined Charles Henry Street (1824-1887) as an estate agent. Walter Hislop replaced Charles Street in the partnership, the firm becoming 'Gillies, Street & Hislop'. In 1884 they amalgamated with Connell & Moodie, to form the Perpetual Trustees and Agency Company, which Robert chaired. The Perpetual Trustees Estate and Agency Co Ltd continues, after further mergers, as Perpetual Guardian. Robert was a director of Dunedin Waterworks Company and chairman of Westport Coal Company. He was a founder of the

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

Knox Church, president of its Young Men's Association, started its library, local Treasurer of the

London Missionary Society The London Missionary Society was an interdenominational evangelical missionary society formed in England in 1795 at the instigation of Welsh Congregationalist minister Edward Williams. It was largely Reformed in outlook, with Congregational miss ...

and a founder of the

Otago Institute Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

. Robert took part in observations of the

Transit of Venus frameless, upright=0.5 A transit of Venus across the Sun takes place when the planet Venus passes directly between the Sun and a superior planet, becoming visible against (and hence obscuring a small portion of) the solar disk. During a trans ...

, naming his house, Transit House.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gillies, Robert 1835 births 1886 deaths 19th-century New Zealand politicians Hill-McIndoe-Gillies family Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand MPs for South Island electorates Burials at Dunedin Northern Cemetery People from the Isle of Bute