William Thorne Buckland (1819 – 17 January 1876) 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 o ...

in New Zealand. Buckland was born in 1819 or 1820. His mother was Elizabeth (née Mortimore) and his father was the broker John Buckland; they were from Devon, England. The auctioneer

Alfred Buckland Alfred Buckland (17 December 1825 – 12 June 1903) was a New Zealand landowner, auctioneer, farmer, pastoralist and businessman. His house, Highwic, is registered by Heritage New Zealand as a Category I structure, with registration number 1 ...

was a younger brother. Buckland arrived in New Zealand in 1841 from

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

, and was a butcher in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

, then a farmer in the

Waikato Waikato () is a local government region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipa District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton City, as well as Hauraki, Coromandel Peninsul ...

. He married Susan Channing on 13 April 1843 at St Paul's Church in Auckland. Buckland was appointed to the Auckland Executive Council of the

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 ...

in November 1856 (the source does not state and end date), and was again appointed from February to July 1857. He was elected to the

Auckland Provincial Council 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 ...

for the Raglan electorate in November 1861 and served until 1869. From 1869 to 1873, he represented the Franklin electorate. He had no intention of standing for the Provincial Council again but happened to ride past the nomination meeting in Newmarket for the Eden electorate. There was only one nomination thus far for the two available positions, and Buckland was talked into being nominated. As the number of nominations matched the number of available positions, he was declared elected unopposed, and served until his death. He represented two South Auckland electorates; first the Raglan electorate from to 1866, when he retired to go overseas. He then represented the

Franklin Franklin may refer to: People * Franklin (given name) * Franklin (surname) * Franklin (class), a member of a historical English social class Places Australia * Franklin, Tasmania, a township * Division of Franklin, federal electoral d ...

electorate from 1871 to 1875. He was nominated for the 1876 election and gave a speech at the nomination meeting on 10 January 1876, but withdrew his nomination before the end of the proceedings. The '' Auckland Star'' suggested that the sole purpose of his nomination was that he could make a speech in opposition to Sir

George Grey Sir George Grey, KCB (14 April 1812 – 19 September 1898) was a British soldier, explorer, colonial administrator and writer. He served in a succession of governing positions: Governor of South Australia, twice Governor of New Zealand, Go ...

. Buckland left for the Waikato immediately afterwards to support Alfred Cox in his candidacy in the electorate. However, he became ill with symptoms of

heat stroke Heat stroke or heatstroke, also known as sun stroke, is a severe heat illness that results in a body temperature greater than , along with red skin, headache, dizziness, and confusion. Sweating is generally present in exertional heatstroke, ...

and returned to his home in

Remuera Remuera is an affluent inner city suburb of Auckland, New Zealand. It is located four kilometres southeast of the city centre. Remuera is characterised by many large houses, often Edwardian or mid 20th century. A prime example of a "leafy" sub ...

. He died at his home in

, Auckland aged 56 years after that brief illness. He was buried at St Stephen's Cemetery in Parnell. His wife had died in September 1871; she had committed suicide after having become depressed. Their sons

Frank Frank or Franks may refer to: People * Frank (given name) * Frank (surname) * Franks (surname) * Franks, a medieval Germanic people * Frank, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crusades - see Farang Curr ...

and John Buckland were both elected to the parliament in the ; their daughter Elizabeth Mary married prominent Dunedin doctor and historian Thomas Morland Hocken. Jessie Buckland was his son John's daughter.

Notes

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Buckland, William Thorne 1819 births 1876 deaths Members of the Auckland Provincial Council New Zealand MPs for North Island electorates Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives Members of Auckland provincial executive councils New Zealand farmers Burials at St Stephen's Cemetery, Parnell 19th-century New Zealand politicians

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...