James Stuart-Wortley (New Zealand politician)
James Frederick Stuart-Wortley JP (16 January 1833 – 27 November 1870) was a politician in New Zealand and the UK. He was New Zealand's inaugural Baby of the House and remains the youngest member of parliament in the country's history; in fact he was too young (at 20 years and 7 months) to even be legally elected.
Biography
Stuart-Wortley was born in York, UK, in 1833 and was the third son of the 2nd Lord Wharncliffe and his wife, Lady Georgiana Elizabeth Ryder.[1] He was the younger brother of the 1st Earl of Wharncliffe (1827–1899).[2] Charles Stuart-Wortley-Mackenzie and James Stuart-Wortley were his uncles.[3] Dudley Ryder, 1st Earl of Harrowby was his maternal grandfather.
In 1850 he travelled to New Zealand as a colonist on the Charlotte Jane, one of the First Four Ships sent by the Canterbury Association.[4] In his first year, he lived with other bachelors in Lyttelton—Charles Bowen, Thomas Hanmer, and Charles Maunsell—in a place dubbed "Singleton House" by Charlotte Godley.[5]
He bought 500 acres (200 ha) of land at Tai Tapu near Halswell.[6] In October 1852, he purchased Run 53, located between Lake Ellesmere / Te Waihora and the Selwyn River / Waikirikiri. He on-sold the land in June 1853 and it became part of the Harman and Davie's Station.[7] Stuart-Wortley then started Hawkeswood Station in partnership with others. This station was located north of the Waiau Uwha River.[7]
| Years | Term | Electorate | Party | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1853–1855 | 1st | Christchurch Country | Independent | ||
On 27 August 1853, he was elected to the 1st New Zealand Parliament as a representative of the Christchurch Country electorate,[8] which consisted of rural Canterbury and much of Westland. He was 20 years and 7 months when elected; so was not yet 21, the minimum age to qualify as an elector. The other qualifications in 1853 were to be male, a British subject, to own a certain value of land, and to not be serving a criminal sentence.
He resigned his seat on 18 July 1855[8] and returned to the United Kingdom.[9] His seat stayed vacant until the next election, which was held on 20 December 1855 in the Christchurch Country electorate.[10]
After the first session of Parliament finished in August 1854, Stuart-Wortley travelled with Frederick Weld from Auckland (where Parliament met in those years) to Tauranga, Maketu and Rotorua.[11]
He was appointed a Justice of the Peace in early 1858.[12] He returned to England later in 1858.[6]
In the UK, he stood for election to the House of Commons at the 1865 general election, when he was an unsuccessful Conservative Party candidate for Sheffield.[13]
Stuart-Wortley died in England in November 1870, aged 37.[14] His elder brother Edward built St Mary and St John's Church, Hardraw as a memorial to him.[15]
Notes
- ^ "Hon. James Frederick Stuart-Wortley-Mackenzie". The Peerage. Retrieved 12 January 2012.[unreliable source]
- ^ "John Stuart-Wortley-Mackenzie, 2nd Baron Wharncliffe". The Peerage. Retrieved 12 January 2012.[unreliable source]
- ^ "Theroff's Online Gotha, Bute". Retrieved 1 December 2006.
- ^ "The Charlotte Jane". Shadows of Time. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
- ^ McLintock, A. H., ed. (27 October 2011) [originally published in 1966]. "BOWEN, Sir Charles Christopher, K.C.M.G.". An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand. Ministry for Culture and Heritage / Te Manatū Taonga. Retrieved 20 September 2012.
- ^ a b Sewell 1980, p. 168.
- ^ a b Acland 1946, p. 94.
- ^ a b Scholefield 1950, p. 141.
- ^ Cyclopedia Company 1903, p. 91.
- ^ Scholefield 1950, p. 97.
- ^ "English cottage home to NZ premier's works". Waikato Times. 23 July 2012. Retrieved 20 September 2012.
- ^ "Notices of Motion". Daily Southern Cross. Vol. Volume XV, no. Issue 1112. 23 February 1858. p. 3. Retrieved 21 September 2012.
{{cite news}}:|issue=has extra text (help);|volume=has extra text (help) - ^ Craig 1989, p. 273.
- ^ "Special Telegrams". The Star. No. Issue 807. 27 December 1870. p. 4. Retrieved 21 September 2012.
{{cite news}}:|issue=has extra text (help) - ^ "An Account of Some Yorkshire Parishes – No. 14". Yorkshire Gazette. England. 12 September 1891. Retrieved 31 December 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
References
- Acland, L. G. D. (1946). The Early Canterbury Runs: Containing the First, Second and Third (new) Series. Christchurch: Whitcombe and Tombs Limited.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1977]. British parliamentary election results 1832–1885 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-26-4.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - "Christchurch City And Suburban – Ex-Members of the House of Representatives". The Cyclopedia of New Zealand – Canterbury Provincial District. Christchurch: The Cyclopedia Company Limited. 1903.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Scholefield, Guy (1950) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1949 (3rd ed.). Wellington: Govt. Printer.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Sewell, Henry (1980). W. David McIntyre (ed.). The Journal of Henry Sewell 1853–7 : Volume I. Christchurch: Whitcoulls Publishers. ISBN 0 7233 0624 9.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help)
- 1833 births
- 1870 deaths
- Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives
- Younger sons of barons
- Stuart of Bute family
- People from York
- Conservative Party (UK) parliamentary candidates
- Canterbury Pilgrims
- New Zealand MPs for South Island electorates
- English emigrants to New Zealand
- 19th-century New Zealand politicians