Samuel Edward Shrimski (1828 – 25 June 1902) 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 ...

and then a Member of the Legislative Council from

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.

Early life

He was born in

Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John ...

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

, where he received his initial education. He went to London in 1847, where he stayed for 12 years. Shrimski emigrated to

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

in 1859 and came to New Zealand in 1861. He became a

naturalized Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the in ...

citizen in 1863. He married Deborah Neumegen at the Dunedin Synagogue on 28 June 1865. She was the niece of Leopold Neumegen, a Jewish schoolmaster.

Political career

Shrimski was the government land auctioneer in

Oamaru Oamaru (; mi, Te Oha-a-Maru) is the largest town in North Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand, it is the main town in the Waitaki District. It is south of Timaru and north of Dunedin on the Pacific coast; State Highway 1 and the railway ...

. He unsuccessfully ran for Mayor of Oamaru in 1870, 1871, and 1872, before finally succeeding in 1874. He was defeated in 1875. Shrimski contested the 1876 election in the electorate. Waitaki was first established in the 1870 Electoral Redistribution. For the 1876 election, it became a two-member electorate. Four candidates put their names forward. Steward and Joseph O'Meagher contested the election as abolitionists (i.e. they were in favour of abolishing the

provincial government A state government is the government that controls a subdivision of a country in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonomy, ...

), while

Thomas William Hislop Thomas William Hislop (8 April 1850 – 2 October 1925) was the Mayor of Wellington from 1905 to 1908, and had represented two South Island electorates in the New Zealand Parliament. Early life He was born in Kirknewton, West Lothian in 1850. ...

and Shrimski were provincialists (i.e. they favoured the retention of provincial government). The provincialists won the election by quite some margin, and both became members of parliament for the first time. Hislop and Shrimski were both confirmed in the , but Hislop resigned on 28 April 1880 "for private reasons". The resulting was won by

George Jones George Glenn Jones (September 12, 1931 – April 26, 2013) was an American country musician, singer, and songwriter. He achieved international fame for his long list of hit records, including his best-known song "He Stopped Loving Her Today", ...

, who served alongside Shrimski until 1881. Shrimski then represented the

electorate from to 1885, when he resigned. In the 1884 general election, he defeated Viscount Reidhaven (who later became the

Earl of Seafield Earl of Seafield is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1701 for James Ogilvy, who in 1711 succeeded his father as 4th Earl of Findlater. The earldoms of Findlater and Seafield continued to be united until 1811, when the earldom ...

when he succeeded his

father A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. An adoptive fathe ...

). He was appointed to the Legislative Council on 15 May 1885, one of an unprecedented nine appointments made by the Stout–Vogel Ministry in 1885, which inflated the council's membership to 54. He held that role until he died in 1902. In Oamaru, he was a member of educational and philanthropic institutions. He held the offices of chairman of the educational board of

North Otago North Otago in New Zealand covers the area of Otago between Shag Point and the Waitaki River, and extends inland to the west as far as the village of Omarama (which has experienced rapid growth as a developing centre for astronomy and for glid ...

, treasurer of the hospital board, and vice-president of the

branch of the Anglo-Jewish Association.

Death

Shrimski moved 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 ...

in 1900 to be closer to other family members. After having been ill for five weeks, he died at his residence in Lower Symonds Street, Auckland, on 25 June 1902. He is buried at

Waikumete Cemetery Waikumete Cemetery, originally Waikomiti Cemetery, is New Zealand's largest cemetery. It occupies a site of 108 hectares in Glen Eden, New Zealand, Glen Eden, Auckland, and also contains a crematorium in the south-west corner of the cemetery. His ...

. He was survived by his wife Deborah Shrimski.

Notes

References

* * * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Shrimski, Samuel 1828 births 1902 deaths Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives Members of the New Zealand Legislative Council New Zealand Jews New Zealand people of Polish-Jewish descent Mayors of Oamaru Polish emigrants to New Zealand Burials at Waikumete Cemetery New Zealand MPs for South Island electorates 19th-century New Zealand politicians Naturalised citizens of New Zealand