Major Mathew Richmond (1801 – 5 March 1887) was a New Zealand colonial administrator and a politician. He was the first Chairman of Committees of the Legislative Council. Born in England to Scottish parents, he had a military career spanning 23 years before arriving in New Zealand.

Early life

Richmond was born in 1801 in

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...

, England. His father was Major Richmond from

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...

, Scotland, and he served with the

Royal Scots Greys The Royal Scots Greys was a Cavalry regiments of the British Army, cavalry regiment of the British Army from 1707 until 1971, when they amalgamated with the 3rd Carabiniers (Prince of Wales's Dragoon Guards) to form the Royal Scots Dragoon Guard ...

. He was educated at the Royal Military College from 1814 and had a total of 23 years of active army service. He joined the

Cape Corps The Cape Corps and its predecessor units were the main military organisations in which the Coloured members of South Africa's population served. History As one of the military units of South Africa with one of the longest histories, the Cape ...

in South Africa in 1817. From the following year, he served with the 11th Regiment of Foot, where he gained the rank of a

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

in 1826. He served in Portugal in 1828–1829 before he went to the Ionian Islands as an administrator from 1829 to 1838, where he lived on

Paxos Paxos ( gr, Παξός) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea, lying just south of Corfu. As a group with the nearby island of Antipaxos and adjoining islets, it is also called by the plural form Paxi or Paxoi ( gr, Παξοί, pronounced in Engl ...

. In 1838 or 1839, he was Deputy Judge Advocate in

Saint John, New Brunswick Saint John is a seaport city of the Atlantic Ocean located on the Bay of Fundy in the province of New Brunswick, Canada. Saint John is the oldest incorporated city in Canada, established by royal charter on May 18, 1785, during the reign of Ki ...

, Canada, for the 96th Regiment of Foot. He went with the regiment to

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

in 1839. Richmond married Mary Smith in 1830. They had one daughter and one son,

Andrew Richmond Andrew James Richmond (1832 – 15 November 1880) was a 19th-century Member of Parliament in Nelson, New Zealand. He was the son of Major Mathew Richmond, Member of the Legislative Council (1853–1887). In 1856, he married Anna Selin ...

Life in New Zealand

The family came out to New Zealand in 1840 for Richmond to investigate land claims as a commissioner. The family lived in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

for some time and used Douglas Mary McKain for their health needs. During the time of the

Wairau Affray The Wairau Affray of 17 June 1843, also called the Wairau Massacre in older histories, was the first serious clash of arms between British settlers and Māori in New Zealand after the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi and the only one to take ...

, he managed to maintain order in

together with

Arthur Edward McDonogh Arthur Edward McDonogh (c.1810 – 26 October 1852) was a New Zealand policeman, police magistrate, militia officer and roading supervisor. He was born in Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an i ...

. However, McDonogh swore in volunteers as special constables and supported the installations of defences. This resulted in Richmond succeeding McDonogh as Chief Police Magistrate for the Southern District in mid-1843, as the government regarded McDonogh actions as "extremely injudicious". Richmond was further promoted to become Superintendent in early 1844. The Southern District was the area to the south of

Cape Egmont Cape Egmont, splitting Northern and Southern Taranaki Bights, is the westernmost point of Taranaki, on the west coast of New Zealand's North Island. It is located close to the volcanic cone of Mount Taranaki or Mount Egmont. It was named '' ...

. In his role, he was only responsible to the Governor (first

Robert FitzRoy Vice-Admiral Robert FitzRoy (5 July 1805 – 30 April 1865) was an English officer of the Royal Navy and a scientist. He achieved lasting fame as the captain of during Charles Darwin's famous voyage, FitzRoy's second expedition to Tierra de ...

and then

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 ...

) and the Colonial Secretary (

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 ...

) 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 ...

. With the arrival of

Edward John Eyre Edward John Eyre (5 August 181530 November 1901) was an English land explorer of the Australian continent, colonial administrator, and Governor of Jamaica. Early life Eyre was born in Whipsnade, Bedfordshire, shortly before his family moved to ...

as Governor of New Munster, Richmond became resident magistrate at

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

. From 1853 to 1858, Richmond was Commissioner of Crown Lands in Nelson. He lived at The Cliffs in Nelson. Richmond was appointed by George Grey to the

New Zealand Legislative Council The New Zealand Legislative Council was the upper house of the General Assembly of New Zealand between 1853 and 1951. An earlier arrangement of legislative councils for the colony and provinces existed from 1841 when New Zealand became a co ...

on 23 June 1853. He retained his membership until his death. From 1865 until 1879, he was the first Chairman of Committees. In 1860, he was awarded Companionship of the Order of the Bath (CB) for his military services. He died on 5 March 1887 aged 86 at his home in Nelson following a long illness and having been unconscious for the previous five days. He was buried at

Wakapuaka Cemetery Wakapuaka Cemetery is a cemetery located in Brooklands, Nelson, New Zealand. "Wakapuaka" is Māori for "heaps of aka leaves". Location Wakapuaka Cemetery is located at the southern end of Atawhai Drive in Nelson. The cemetery is located on a h ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Richmond, Mathew 1801 births 1887 deaths New Zealand Companions of the Order of the Bath Scottish emigrants to New Zealand Members of the New Zealand Legislative Council People from Nelson, New Zealand Burials at Wakapuaka Cemetery 19th-century New Zealand politicians