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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Taranaki, Hawke's Bay & Wellington Provincial Districts]

Former Members Of The Legislative Council

Former Members Of The Legislative Council.

Captain John Curling was appointed to the Legislative Council in the year 1857, and held his seat until 1861. He was also Resident Magistrate in Napier, Chairman of the Bench, Receiver of Land Revenue for the Province of Hawke's Bay, Returning Officer for the Provincial Council, and held other public positions. It was he who took the Separation Petition, bearing between 300 and 400 signatures, to Auckland, for presentation page 300 in the General Assembly. Later in life Captain Curling became a schoolmaster. He died many years ago.

Lieutenant-Colonel The Honourable Andrew Hamilton Russell was appointed to the Legislative Council in the year 1861, and continued to be a member until 1872. He joined the Executive Council of the second Stafford Ministry, and from October, 1865, to August, 1866, held office as Minister for Native Affairs. Colonel Russell was a descendant of a Scottish family, entered the Imperial service at an early age, and rose to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in the 58th Regiment, with which regiment he served in New Zealand during the first Maori war, and afterwards settled in Hawke's Bay as a runholder. In the year 1874 Colonel Russell returned to England, and took up his residence in Devonshire. His son, Sir William Russell, was for six years Leader of the Opposition in the House of Representatives.

The Hon. Henry Robert Russell, one of Hawke's Bay's earliest settlers, was appointed to the Legislative Council in the year 1862, and continued to be a member until 1885. He was formerly Sheriff for the district of Hawke's Bay, and chairman of the Board of Warders for the district of Waipukurau. Mr. Russell owned the Mount Herbert sheep run, where he resided. In 1866 he laid out and founded the town of Waipukurau, and promoted the settlement of the surrounding district; he also gave sites in the township for public, charitable, social, and religious purposes, in addition to monetary endowments, and his name will always be remembered as that of a public benefactor in the district with which he was long associated.

Major-General Sir George Stoddart Whitmore, K.C.M.G., was a member of the Legislative Council in the year 1863. He was born at Malta in 1829, educated in Scotland, and then entered the Imperial service. At seventeen years of age he went to Cape Colony, where he served under Sir Harry Smith, and was afterwards a member of the Cape Mounted Rifles. General Whitmore saw active service in the Crimean war, and in 1861 came to New Zealand as Military Secretary to General Cameron, under whom he went through the second Maori war. Subsequently he was appointed to the command of the New Zealand forces. As marks of distinction for active service he held South African, Crimean, Turkish, and New Zealand medals. For some years General Whitmore was in partnership, as a sheep-farmer, with Sir John McNeil, in the Rissington station. He married a daughter of Mr. William Smith, of Roxeth, Middlesex, England, in the year 1864, and died in Napier on the 16th of March, 1903.

The Late Major-Gen. Sir G. S. Whitmore.

The Late Major-Gen. Sir G. S. Whitmore.

The Hon. John Nathaniel Wilson was called to the Legislative Council in November, 1877, and held his seat until the year 1893, when he resigned in order to go to England. He was also a member of the Executive Council, without portfolio, of the Grey Ministry, from November, 1878, to October, 1879.