John Williamson (25 August 1815 – 16 February 1875) was a New Zealand politician, printer and newspaper proprietor. He was a leading opponent of the 1860s wars against Māori and lost his newspaper and fortune as a result.

Early life

Williamson was probably born on 25 August 1815, or possibly February 1815, in

Newry Newry (; ) is a city in Northern Ireland, divided by the Clanrye river in counties Armagh and Down, from Belfast and from Dublin. It had a population of 26,967 in 2011. Newry was founded in 1144 alongside a Cistercian monastery, althoug ...

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to the ...

, Ireland. He served his apprenticeship as a printer. He married in either 1833 or 1834 to Sarah Barre, and they were to have five children. They emigrated to

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

in 1840, where he worked for ''

The Australasian Chronicle ''The Australasian Chronicle'' was a twice-weekly Roman Catholic, Catholic newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was published in a broadsheet format. It was also published as ''The Morning Chronicle'', ''The Chronicle' ...

'' and then ''

The Sydney Monitor ''The Monitor'' was a biweekly English language newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales and founded in 1826. It is one of the earlier newspapers in the colony commencing publication twenty three years after the ''Sydney Gazette'', the fir ...

''. He moved to

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 ...

, New Zealand, in mid-1841.

New Zealand

He purchased his own printing press in 1845 and started the ''New Zealander'', which became Auckland's leading newspaper. The editorial approach of the ''New Zealander'', was to support the ordinary settler and the Māori. He was joined by partner W.C. Wilson in 1848, until Wilson left to found ''

The New Zealand Herald ''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation of all newspapers ...

'' in 1863. The ''New Zealander'' ceased after a fire on 7 May 1866. A coroner's hearing concluded there was insufficient information to determine the cause, though evidence was given of an unknown person running away. In 1867 the ''Evening Post'' wrote, "It was a combination of leading men in Auckland - notably the business men - that killed the ''New Zealander'', causing heavy loss to its actual proprietor and those conducting it. Why? It ventured to have an opinion, and to maintain it." He was a member of 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 ...

in the first council from 22 July 1853, representing the Pensioner Settlements electorate. He served until 15 November 1856 as a councillor. He was, over three periods, the fourth

Superintendent Superintendent may refer to: *Superintendent (police), Superintendent of Police (SP), or Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), a police rank *Prison warden or Superintendent, a prison administrator *Superintendent (ecclesiastical), a church exec ...

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 ...

(1856–1862 resigned; 1867–1869 defeated; 1873–1875 died). On 28 December 1865, he became a member of the Auckland Executive Council as commissioner of waste lands under

Frederick Whitaker Sir Frederick Whitaker (23 April 1812 – 4 December 1891) was an English-born New Zealand politician who served twice as the premier of New Zealand and six times as Attorney-General. Early life Whitaker was born at the Deanery Manor House, ...

as Superintendent, until he succeeded him in 1867 following his resignation. Williamson represented the Pensioner Settlements (consisting of the

suburbs of Howick,

Onehunga Onehunga is a suburb of Auckland in New Zealand and the location of the Port of Onehunga, the city's small port on the Manukau Harbour. It is south of the Auckland CBD, city centre, close to the volcano, volcanic cone of Maungakiekie / One Tree ...

, Otahuhu, and Panmure) in the

2nd New Zealand Parliament The 2nd New Zealand Parliament was a term of the New Zealand Parliament, Parliament of New Zealand. It opened on 15 April 1856, following New Zealand's 1855 New Zealand general election, 1855 election. It was dissolved on 5 November 1860 in prep ...

from 1855 to 1860, and represented the City of Auckland West electorate in the 3rd Parliament, the 4th Parliament, and the 5th Parliament from 1861 to 1875 (in 1871 the election was declared void, but he was then re-elected). He was briefly a

minister without portfolio A minister without portfolio is either a government minister with no specific responsibilities or a minister who does not head a particular ministry. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet w ...

in the second Fox Ministry in July/August 1861. He died in 1875, while he was a Member of Parliament. He was buried in

Symonds Street Cemetery Symonds Street Cemetery is a historic cemetery and park in central Auckland, New Zealand. It is in 5.8 hectares of deciduous forest on the western slope of Grafton Gully, by the corner of Symonds Street and Karangahape Road, and is crossed by th ...

Notes

References

External links

1861 election results by polling place
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williamson, John 1815 births 1875 deaths Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives Members of the Auckland Provincial Council Superintendents of New Zealand provincial councils Members of the Cabinet of New Zealand Irish emigrants to New Zealand (before 1923) Members of Auckland provincial executive councils People from Newry New Zealand MPs for Auckland electorates 19th-century New Zealand politicians Burials at Symonds Street Cemetery