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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Otago & Southland Provincial Districts]
[introduction]
When the Constitution was first granted in 1853, the Governor called to the Upper House Mr. F. D. Bell and Captain E. H. Bellairs, a wealthy gentleman, who had been also connected with the Canterbury settlement. But in 1856 Mr. Bell resigned, and Captain Bellairs returned to England. Mr. John Hyde Harris was, later, Superintendent of the province, member of the Legislative Council (1867–1868), District Judge, and member of the Otago University. He married one of Captain Cargill's daughters, and died in 1886. By 1862 the prominence that Otago had attained through the gold discoveries made it necessary to increase her representation in the Legislative Council, and accordingly in that year Mr. A. Buchanan was appointed, and Mr. F. S. Pillans in 1863. By 1865 the Council was greatly enlarged, and in addition to these two members, Messrs H. J. Miller, J. Rolland were summoned to the Legislature. Mr. Prendergast was Attorney-General in the Weld Ministry of 1865, and was afterwards Chief Justice of the colony from the 1st of April, 1875, to the 25th of May, 1899. During his tenure of office he was knighted, and he was succeeded as Chief Justice by Sir Robert Stout on the 22nd of June, 1899. Mr. Strode was the first resident magistrate appointed in Dunedin, at a time when Government nominees were extremely unpopular with the young settlement.
In 1868 the Otago members of the Council were Messrs Buchanan, Miller, Pillans, Holmes, John McLean, and Richardson; while Dr Menzies, and Messrs J. P. Taylor and W. H. Nurse represented Southland. Of the new members, Mr. M. Holmes and Mr. J. McLean stood for the great pastoral interests, which then, as now, formed the mainstay of the country. Sir John Richardson had been a member of the Provincial Council since 1860, and was elected its Speaker in 1861. Later he represented Dunedin in the House of Representatives, and in 1871 was elected Speaker of the Legislative Council—a position which he held till his death in 1879. He was a man of considerable capacity and of unquestionable integrity, and did much to maintain the high standard of public life and conduct set by the pioneers of the colony. Mr. James Paterson, who was called to the Council in 1869, had been Provincial Secretary when Mr. John Hyde Harris was Superintendent, and became Postmaster-General in the Stafford Ministry of 1865–1866.
In 1871 the number of Otago (including Southland) Legislative Councillors had risen to ten. Mr. John McLean's place had been taken by Mr. Robert Campbell; and Mr. Thomas Fraser had been called to the Council. In 1873, Mr. Pillans resigned, and by 1876 the Otago members of the Council were again reduced to eight.
By 1879, subsequent to the abolition of the provinces, the number of Otago members had been increased to eleven. The new members were: Sir F. D. Bell, W. H. Reynolds, W. Wood and H. K. Taiaroa. Sir F. D. Bell had been Colonial Treasurer in the first responsible ministry in 1856, but did not settle in Otago till 1864. He was, later, Speaker of the House of Representatives for four years, and after 1880 held the office of Agent-General for the colony for ten years in London. Mr. Reynolds was a member of the Provinical Council from its inception to its abolition—1853–1876—and was Speaker of the Council in 1867. He acted as Honorary Immigration Agent for the colony in England, and was elected to the House of Representatives for Dunedin in 1863 and 1865. He was Commissioner of Customs in the Waterhouse Government and under Fox, Pollen and Vogel. Mr. Reynolds was largely instrumental in saving for the province the education reserves which were in danger of being absorbed by the central goverment after 1876. Mr. H. K. Taiaroa, the son of the old chief Taiaroa, who had signed the original deed for the purchase of the Otago Block, for many years represented Otago and the Southern Maori electorate in both Houses of the Legislature, with great satisfaction to his constituents; and after a short absence was recalled to the Council, of which he is still a member.
By 1880 Sir F. D. Bell had left the colony, but Mr. George McLean—who is still a member of the Council—and Mr. Richard Oliver were appointed in 1881. Both these gentlemen had been members of the House, and both held office in several Governments. A biography of Mr. McLean appears on page 75 of the Wellington volume of this Cyclopedia, and of Mr. Oliver on page 80 of the same volume.
In 1885 the number of Councillors fell to ten through the death of Mr. Wood. In that year Mr. S. E. Shrimski, who had previously sat for Oamaru in the House of Representatives, first appears on the list. Mr. Shrimski took an active part in political affairs for many years, and died in Auckland in 1902. By 1891 the number of Otago Councillors was reduced to nine, as Mr. Paterson and Mr. Nurse had disappeared, and Mr. W. D. Stewart alone replaced them. However, in 1894, Messrs W. M. Bolt, H. J. Feldwiek and John MacGregor brought up the Otago membership once more to eleven. In 1895 the total was still further increased to twelve by the inclusion of Mr. George Jones, of Oamaru; but later changes reduced it to ten. This brief sketch of the representation of Otago in the Legislative Council is sufficient to show that in this sphere of public life, the interests of the province have been guarded by some of the most capable of its public men.