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 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

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Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, on 17 January 1828. He was the eldest of nine children of John Gillies, local lawyer and town clerk, and his wife, Isabella Lillie, daughter of a Glasgow businessman and granddaughter of a

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...

refugee. Determined to train as a mechanical engineer, he was forced by his father to study law and trained in his father's practice for four years. He then went to

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, where he worked for Robert Barbour and Sons, with his next brother

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

taking his place in his father's firm. The two brothers intended to join the

California Gold Rush The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) was a gold rush that began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California fro ...

but their father did not allow them to do so, and John emigrated to Australia instead in about 1850. John Gillies senior was so committed with various duties that his health suffered and after long discussions, it was agreed to emigrate to

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. On 1 June 1852, Thomas Gillies married Catherine Douglas at

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

. The whole family, including their brother Robert Gillies, left for New Zealand on 24 July on the ''Slains Castle''. They were soon joined in Otago by John Gillies Jr., who came over from Australia.

Political career

He was the Member of Parliament for

Dunedin Country Dunedin Country was a parliamentary electorate in the rural area surrounding the city of Dunedin in Otago, New Zealand, from 1853 to 1860. It was a two-member electorate and was represented by a total of five members of parliament. Population c ...

from 1860 (after a by-election), then

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 ...

1861 to 1865; two electorates in the South Island. While he had been a cabinet minister in the Domett Ministry (August 1862) and then the Whitaker–Fox Ministry (October 1863 – November 1864), he was a strong separationist, but did not get majority support in the ministries or from parliament as a whole, and he resigned his parliamentary seat in early 1865 as he could not achieve separation of the

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

. He first talked about having resigned in public on 6 January 1865 but the resignation did not take effect until 3 March of that year. Gillies then represented Mongonui 1870 (elected 30 March 1870; Parliament dissolved 30 December 1870) then

Auckland West The former New Zealand parliamentary New Zealand electorates, electorate on the western inner city of Auckland, was known as City of Auckland West from 1861 to 1890, and then Auckland West from 1905 to 1946. Population centres From 1861 to 18 ...

1871 to 1875 (resigned); two electorates in the North Island. He was the seventh

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Auckland Province The Auckland Province was a province of New Zealand from 1853 until the abolition of provincial government in 1876. Area The province covered roughly half of the North Island of New Zealand. It was the largest of the six initial provinces, both ...

from 1869 to 1873. He was a cabinet minister, and held the positions of

Attorney-General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

(August 1862) in the Domett Ministry, Postmaster-General and Secretary for Crown Lands (1863–1864) in the Whitaker–Fox Ministry, and

Colonial Treasurer Colonial or The Colonial may refer to: * Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology) Architecture * American colonial architecture * French Colonial * Spanish Colonial architecture Automobiles * Colonial (1920 au ...

(1872) in the third Stafford Ministry.

Professional career

Gillies joined the practise of his father John Gillies and

John Hyde Harris John Hyde Harris (24 November 1826 – 24 July 1886) was a 19th-century New Zealand politician. Born in England, he came to Dunedin as a young man and practised as a lawyer, and was then a judge. He entered provincial politics and was elected as ...

in July 1857. In the 1860s, he ran a law practice in Dunedin with William Richmond, a fellow (ex) MP. He died in his Auckland home, after being "seized with apoplexy". Gillies's first wife, Catherine, died in 1865); he married secondly, in 1867, Agnes (d. 1884), daughter of John Sinclair, of Glasgow, niece of

Andrew Sinclair Andrew Annandale Sinclair FRSL FRSA (21 January 1935 – 30 May 2019) was a British novelist, historian, biographer, critic, filmmaker, and a publisher of classic and modern film scripts. He has been described as a "writer of extraordinary flu ...

, second Colonial Secretary of New Zealand, and sister-in-law of David Bruce. He had six children altogether from both marriages.

Notes

References

* * , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Gillies, Thomas 1828 births 1889 deaths Members of the Cabinet of New Zealand Attorneys-General of New Zealand New Zealand finance ministers Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives Superintendents of New Zealand provincial councils New Zealand MPs for Dunedin electorates 19th-century New Zealand politicians Attorneys-General of the Colony of New Zealand Hill-McIndoe-Gillies family