William Walter Cargill (27 August 1784 – 6 August 1860) was the founder of the

Otago Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

settlement in New Zealand, after serving as an officer in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

. He was a member of parliament and Otago's first

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 ...

Early life

Cargill was born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, Scotland, in 1784. His parents were James Cargill and Marrion Jamieson. His father died of alcoholism when he was 15. He joined the British Army in 1802 and served with distinction in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, Spain, and France. In 1813, he married Mary Ann Yates; they had seventeen children. Of these, two of his five sons became notable in public life:

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

, who followed in his father's footsteps and became a politician, and

Edward Edward is an English given name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Sa ...

, a prominent businessman and politician. Family circumstances forced him to sell his commission in 1820, though he was later referred to as "Captain Cargill". After leaving the army, he became a wine merchant in Scotland. On 24 November 1847, Cargill sailed for New Zealand on the ship '' John Wickliffe'', arriving at what is now

Port Chalmers Port Chalmers is a town serving as the main port of the city of Dunedin, New Zealand. Port Chalmers lies ten kilometres inside Otago Harbour, some 15 kilometres northeast of Dunedin's city centre. History Early Māori settlement The origi ...

, Otago on 23 March 1848.

Political career

The

New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 The New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 (15 & 16 Vict. c. 72) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that granted self-government to the Colony of New Zealand. It was the second such Act, the previous 1846 Act not having been fully i ...

granted the settler population self-government, and in 1853 Cargill was elected

of the

Otago Province The Otago Province was a province of New Zealand until the abolition of provincial government in 1876. The capital of the province was Dunedin. Southland Province split from Otago in 1861, but became part of the province again in 1870. Area a ...

. Cargill also served as a

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 of ...

for

Dunedin Country Dunedin Country was a parliamentary electorate in the rural area surrounding the city of Dunedin in Otago, New Zealand, from 1853 to 1860. It was a two-member electorate and was represented by a total of five members of parliament. Population c ...

. He was elected unopposed on 11 December 1855. He served the multi-member electorate alongside his son John. He rarely spoke in the house and found travel to parliament 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 ...

difficult. Aged 75, he announced his resignation from public office in October 1859; he died less than a year later. He was described as a "unabashed provincialist".

Death and legacy

He died of a stroke on 6 August 1860, at his home "Hillside" in Dunedin, and is buried in

Dunedin Southern Cemetery The Southern Cemetery in the New Zealand city of Dunedin was the first major cemetery to be opened in the city. The cemetery was opened in 1858, ten years after the founding of the city in an area known as Little Paisley. This area lies at the ...

with his wife and three children. His daughter Isabel Cargill, travelled to Italy with Miss Ann Marie Babington and 1892 they opened

Babington's tea room Babington's tea room, established in 1893, is a traditional English tea shop at the foot of the Spanish Steps in the Piazza di Spagna in Rome, Italy. History The tea room was founded by two young women, one from New Zealand and one from England ...

on the Spanish Steps in Rome which still today belongs to her descendants. Numerous names have connections with Cargill. The city of

Invercargill Invercargill ( , mi, Waihōpai is the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand, and one of the southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland region. The city lies in the heart of the wide expanse of t ...

is named for him (''Inver'' coming from the Scots Gaelic word ''inbhir'' meaning ''a river's mouth''), as is

Mount Cargill Mount Cargill, known in Māori as Kapukataumahaka,Place names'' on Kāti Huirapa Runaka ki Puketeraki website, viewed 2012-01-04 is a volcanic outcrop which dominates the skyline of northern Dunedin, New Zealand. The peak is named for Captain ...

, which towers above northern Dunedin. "Cargill's Corner" is a major road intersection in

South Dunedin South Dunedin is a major inner city suburb of the New Zealand city of Dunedin. It is located, as its name suggests, to the south of the city centre, on part of a large plain known locally simply as "The Flat". The suburb is a mix of industrial ...

, and one of the roads which crosses at it is Hillside Road, named for Cargill's house. A Tasmanian sandstone monument to Cargill, simply known as the

Cargill Monument The Cargill Monument is a notable public monument in central Dunedin, New Zealand. It is dedicated to the city's founding father, Captain William Cargill, and is approximately in height. The monument was designed by Charles Robert Swyer and b ...

, was built in Dunedin in 1863–64.

Cargill's Castle The ruins of Cargill's Castle stand on a promontory overlooking the Pacific Ocean in New Zealand's southern city of Dunedin. It is one of about ten castles in New Zealand, the other one in Otago being nearby Larnach Castle. More a castle in name t ...

, a ruined stately home above St Clair is not named for William Cargill, but for his son

References

External links

William Cargill
Te Ara – The Encyclopedia of New Zealand , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Cargill, William 1784 births 1860 deaths Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives Superintendents of New Zealand provincial councils Scottish emigrants to New Zealand History of Dunedin New Zealand MPs for Dunedin electorates Burials at Dunedin Southern Cemetery Settlers of Otago 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 ...