Robert Morrow Houston (1842 – 27 September 1912) was a

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Member of Parliament in New Zealand.

Early life

Houston was born in 1842 in County Down, Ireland. His father was Rev. T. Houston, DD. He received his education at

Belfast Academy The Belfast Royal Academy (commonly shortened to ) is the oldest school in the city of Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is a co-educational, non-denominational voluntary grammar school in north Belfast. The Academy is one of 8 schools in Northern ...

and

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. He emigrated to New Zealand on the ''Canterbury'', arriving in Lyttelton on 10 January 1864. Later that year, he went to

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and then worked as a school teacher in Whangarei and Otara. After that, he became a storekeeper in Mangonui. In 1870, he married Christina Robertson "Tina" Stewart of Auckland. Their son, Andrew Stewart Houston (born 1879), served in the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the South ...

. Another son, Harold Edward Houston (born 1885), died in action in France in 1916.

Political career

He was chairman of the Mangonui Town Board, chaired the Oruaiti District Board, and for 24 years chaired the Mangonui County Council. He was elected to the electorate in the 1890 general election, and he represented the seat to

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, when he retired. In the 1890 election, he contested the electorate against James Trounsen, John Lundon and Joseph Dargaville. Houston, Trounsen, Lundon, and Dargaville received 465, 454, 385 and 352 votes, respectively. He chaired the Native Affairs Committee for 15 years and stepped back from that role in 1906 for health reasons. Whilst he was a strong supporter of

Richard Seddon Richard John Seddon (22 June 1845 – 10 June 1906) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 15th premier (prime minister) of New Zealand from 1893 until his death. In office for thirteen years, he is to date New Zealand's longest-se ...

, he was of the conservative end of the liberal spectrum and caused his party whips quite a bit of trouble over the years.

Death

He died at Mangonui on 27 September 1912 aged 70 after a prolonged period of poor health. He was survived by his wife.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Houston, Robert Morrow 1842 births 1912 deaths New Zealand Liberal Party MPs Politicians from County Down People from the Northland Region New Zealand traders Alumni of Queen's University Belfast People educated at the Belfast Royal Academy 19th-century New Zealand politicians Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives Irish emigrants to New Zealand