Thomas Henry Potts (23 December 1824 – 27 July 1888) was a British-born New Zealand naturalist, ornithologist, entomologist, and

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

. He also served in the

New Zealand Parliament The New Zealand Parliament ( mi, Pāremata Aotearoa) is the unicameral legislature of New Zealand, consisting of the King of New Zealand (King-in-Parliament) and the New Zealand House of Representatives. The King is usually represented by hi ...

from 1866 to 1870.

Biography

The son of a small arms manufacturer, he emigrated to New Zealand in 1854, and recorded many natural observations as well as species that were then new to science, such as the

black-billed gull The black-billed gull (''Chroicocephalus bulleri''), Buller's gull, or tarāpuka ( Māori) is a Near Threatened species of gull in the family Laridae. This gull is found only in New Zealand, its ancestors having arrived from Australia around 25 ...

and the

great spotted kiwi The great spotted kiwi, great grey kiwiDavies, S. J. J. F. (2003) or roroa (''Apteryx haastii'') is a species of kiwi endemic to the South Island of New Zealand. The great spotted kiwi, as a member of the ratites, is flightless. It is the larg ...

. In he was elected to the Mount Herbert

electorate Electorate may refer to: * The people who are eligible to vote in an election, especially their number e.g. the term ''size of (the) electorate'' * The dominion of a Prince-elector The prince-electors (german: Kurfürst pl. , cz, Kurfiřt, ...

after

William Sefton Moorhouse William Sefton Moorhouse ( 1825 – 15 September 1881) was a British-born New Zealand politician. He was the second Superintendent of Canterbury Province. Early life Moorhouse was born in Yorkshire, England, and baptised on 18 December 1825; th ...

who had won the seat in the 1866 general election declined the seat. Potts retired from Parliament in 1870. In the 1860s and 1870s, Thomas Potts was an early campaigner for areas of New Zealand to be set aside as nature reserves to save many bird species from extinction, after the deforestation of large areas of mainland New Zealand. Potts owned

Ohinetahi Ohinetahi ( mi, Ōhinetahi: "The Place of One Daughter") is a valley, historic homestead, and formal garden on Teddington Road, Governors Bay, Christchurch, Canterbury region, New Zealand. Ohinetahi valley is situated at the head of Lyttelton ...

for several years.

References

External links

Digitized works by Thomas Henry Potts
at Biodiversity Heritage Library
Thomas Henry Potts in New Zealand birds websitePotts, Thomas Henry in ''1966 Encyclopaedia of New Zealand''
1824 births 1888 deaths New Zealand entomologists New Zealand ornithologists Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives Members of the Canterbury Provincial Council New Zealand MPs for South Island electorates 19th-century New Zealand politicians Botanists with author abbreviations New Zealand naturalists {{NewZealand-politician-stub