Charles Edward de la Barca MacMillan (December 1872 – 9 January 1941) was a New Zealand politician. He was

Mayor of Tauranga The Mayor of Tauranga is the head of the municipal government of Tauranga, New Zealand, and presides over the Tauranga City Council. There is currently no Mayor of Tauranga. On 9 February 2021, a Crown Commission appointed by the Minister of L ...

(1915–1917) and a member of the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

(1923–1935).

Early life

MacMillan was born in

Saint Croix Saint Croix; nl, Sint-Kruis; french: link=no, Sainte-Croix; Danish and no, Sankt Croix, Taino: ''Ay Ay'' ( ) is an island in the Caribbean Sea, and a county and constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands (USVI), an unincor ...

in the

Danish West Indies The Danish West Indies ( da, Dansk Vestindien) or Danish Antilles or Danish Virgin Islands were a Danish colony in the Caribbean, consisting of the islands of Saint Thomas with ; Saint John ( da, St. Jan) with ; and Saint Croix with . The ...

in December 1872. His father, Donald MacMillan, had been a paymaster with the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

and was later a sugar planter. His mother, Maria Elise Barca, was the Baroness de la Barca, the daughter of Baron de la Barca. Following an uprising by workers in 1879, the MacMillans left Saint Croix. MacMillan came to New Zealand with his parents and two siblings on the ''May Queen'' in 1881. They were part of the

George Vesey Stewart George Vesey Stewart (1832–1920) was a notable New Zealand farmer, coloniser and local politician. He was born in Brighton, Sussex, England in about 1832. The in the newly formed electorate was hotly contested. Four candidates were nom ...

Special Settlement to

Te Puke Te Puke is a town located 18 kilometres southeast of Tauranga in the Western Bay of Plenty of New Zealand. It is particularly well-known for the cultivation of Kiwifruit. Te Puke is close to Tauranga, Mount Maunganui, Papamoa, and Maketu, whi ...

, however his father wanted to be closer to the sea and thus bought land at

Katikati Katikati is a town in New Zealand (North Island) located on the Uretara Stream near a tidal inlet towards the northern end of Tauranga Harbour, 28 kilometres south of Waihi and 40 kilometres northwest of Tauranga. State Highway 2 passes through ...

. In 1900, he married Ethel Latham. They moved to

Tauranga Tauranga () is a coastal city in the Bay of Plenty region and the fifth most populous city of New Zealand, with an urban population of , or roughly 3% of the national population. It was settled by Māori late in the 13th century, colonised by ...

in 1908.

Political career

MacMillan was the 15th

and served from 1915 to 1917. In the 1915 mayoral election, he defeated John Cuthbert Adams. In the 1917 mayoral election, Adams narrowly defeated MacMillan (by 292 to 276 votes). Standing for the Reform Party, he won the

electorate in the 1923 by-election after the death of

William Herries Sir William Herbert Herries (19 April 1859 – 22 February 1923) was an English-born New Zealand politician. Biography Herries was born in London, the son of Herbert Crompton Herries, a barrister, and his wife, Leonora Emma Wickham. His g ...

, and held it to 1935 when he was defeated by the

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

candidate, Charles Burnett. He was a cabinet minister in the United–Reform Coalition government (

Minister of Agriculture An agriculture ministry (also called an) agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister ...

and Minister of Mines from 13 February 1932 to 6 December 1935). He was subsequently granted the right to retain the title of "Honourable", having served more than three years as a member of the Executive Council. In 1935, he was awarded the King George V Silver Jubilee Medal.

Death

MacMillan died in Tauranga on 9 January 1941. He was survived by his wife, his son, two daughters, and two sisters.

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Macmillan, Charles 1872 births 1941 deaths People from Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands Mayors of Tauranga Reform Party (New Zealand) MPs Unsuccessful candidates in the 1935 New Zealand general election Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand MPs for North Island electorates