Robert Graham (15 May 1820 – 26 May 1885) was a 19th-century New Zealand politician in the

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 ...

area.

Early life

Graham was born in 1820 in the parish of Barony in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, Scotland. His parents were Barbara Stirling Rennie and the farmer and coal merchant Robert Graham. His brother was David Graham.

Political career

He represented the Southern Division electorate (containing

Waikato Waikato () is a Regions of New Zealand, 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, New Zealand, Hamilton City ...

Coromandel Coromandel may refer to: Places India *Coromandel Coast, India **Presidency of Coromandel and Bengal Settlements ** Dutch Coromandel *Coromandel, KGF, Karnataka, India New Zealand *Coromandel, New Zealand, a town on the Coromandel Peninsula *Coro ...

, the

Bay of Plenty The Bay of Plenty ( mi, Te Moana-a-Toi) is a region of New Zealand, situated around a bight of the same name in the northern coast of the North Island. The bight stretches 260 km from the Coromandel Peninsula in the west to Cape Runawa ...

, and

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) 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 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 in the 3rd Parliament and the 4th Parliament from

1861 Statistically, this year is considered the end of the whale oil industry and (in replacement) the beginning of the petroleum oil industry. Events January–March * January 1 ** Benito Juárez captures Mexico City. ** The first steam-p ...

to 1868, when he resigned. He was the fifth

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 ...

from 1862 to 1865. Prior to this, he had represented the Southern Division electorate on the Provincial Council from 1855 to 1857, and he represented the Franklin electorate from 1865 to 1869. Graham was a major proponent of the Panmure Bridge, and formally laid the final cornerstone at a ceremony in October 1865, soon after stepping down as the Superintendent of Auckland. He stood unsuccessfully for the in .

Family life

He has two great-grandsons who (as brothers) have both served as MPs: *

Doug Graham Sir Douglas Arthur Montrose Graham (born 12 January 1942) is a former New Zealand politician. He was an MP from 1984 to 1999, representing the National Party. Early life and family Graham was born in Auckland, and attended Southwell School a ...

was a National MP from 1984 to 1999 and a cabinet minister *

Kennedy Graham Kennedy Gollan Montrose Graham (born 1946) is a New Zealand politician and former Member of Parliament for the Green Party. He has served in the New Zealand Foreign Service for sixteen years, and lectured at the University of Canterbury and Vi ...

was a Green Party MP from 2008 to 2017

Notes

References

* 1820 births 1885 deaths Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives Members of the Auckland Provincial Council Superintendents of New Zealand provincial councils New Zealand MPs for North Island electorates 19th-century New Zealand politicians Politicians from Glasgow Scottish emigrants to New Zealand {{NewZealand-politician-stub