Robert Reid Parris (1816 – 18 September 1904) was a New Zealand school administrator, politician, public servant, interpreter, soldier and judge. He was born in

Chard Chard or Swiss chard (; ''Beta vulgaris'' subsp. ''vulgaris'', Cicla Group and Flavescens Group) is a green leafy vegetable. In the cultivars of the Flavescens Group, the leaf stalks are large and often prepared separately from the leaf blade; ...

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

, England in about 1816 and baptised on 16 May 1816. On 18 October 1838, he married Mary Whitmore at

Colyton, Devon Colyton is a town in Devon, England. It is located within the East Devon local authority area, the river River Coly runs through it. It is from Seaton and from Axminster. Its population in 1991 was 2,783, reducing to 2,105 at the 2011 Censu ...

. They had two daughters before they emigrated to

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. ...

in New Zealand, and two daughters and a son after they arrived in the colony on 19 November 1842. Unsuccessful at farming, he became farm manager at St John's College in

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 ...

for

Bishop Selwyn George Augustus Selwyn (5 April 1809 – 11 April 1878) was the first Anglican Bishop of New Zealand. He was Bishop of New Zealand (which included Melanesia) from 1841 to 1869. His diocese was then subdivided and Selwyn was Metropolitan (late ...

. Parris was promoted to general superintendent of the industrial school. In about 1852, he moved back to New Plymouth. Parris was one of the original members of the New Plymouth Provincial Council, being elected on 20 August 1853 for the Grey and Bell electorate. He joined the Executive Council as Provincial Treasurer under

George Cutfield George Cutfield (1799 – 22 January 1879) was an early settler in New Zealand. He was active as a politician in Taranaki and was the second Superintendent of Taranaki Province. Cutfield was born in Deal, Kent, in 1799. At Devonport, Plymouth, h ...

from January to June 1857. He resigned from the provincial council in July 1857 when he was appointed district land purchase commissioner for the province. He joined the

militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

and was promoted captain in June 1863, and major in May 1865. Subsequently, he was best known as Major Parris. Fluent in

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

, he acted as an interpreter during the

New Zealand Wars The New Zealand Wars took place from 1845 to 1872 between the New Zealand colonial government and allied Māori on one side and Māori and Māori-allied settlers on the other. They were previously commonly referred to as the Land Wars or the M ...

. He was appointed a judge in the Compensation Court in August 1866. He was later a judge in the

Native Land Court Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and enterta ...

. He died at New Plymouth on 18 September 1904, and was survived by his wife by two years. He was given a military funeral at St Mary's Church.

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Parris, Robert Reid 1816 births 1904 deaths New Zealand public servants District Court of New Zealand judges Interpreters New Zealand military personnel English emigrants to New Zealand 19th-century translators People from New Plymouth Members of the Taranaki Provincial Council Members of Taranaki provincial executive councils Colony of New Zealand judges 19th-century New Zealand politicians People from Chard, Somerset