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Reader Wood

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Reader Wood
Wood in his later years
7th Colonial Treasurer
In office
12 July 1861 – 6 August 1862
Prime MinisterWilliam Fox
In office
21 August 1862 – 24 November 1864
Prime MinisterAlfred Domett
Frederick Whitaker
1st Minister for Colonial Defence
In office
22 July 1862 – 30 October 1863
Prime MinisterAlfred Domett
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Parnell
In office
1861–1865
In office
1870–1878
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Waitemata
In office
1879–1881
Personal details
Born
Reader Gillson Wood

1821
Highfields, Leicester, England
Died20 August 1895(1895-08-20) (aged 73–74)
Parnell, New Zealand
Resting placeSt Stephen's Cemetery, Parnell
SpouseMary Jane Holland
ChildrenOne son
OccupationArchitect, land surveyor, politician

Reader Gillson Wood (1821 – 20 August 1895) was a 19th-century New Zealand politician. An architect by trade, he designed the 1854 General Assembly House built as New Zealand's first meeting house for the House of Representatives.

Early life

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Wood, the son of Thomas and Sarah Wood, was baptised at the Church of St Mary de Castro, Leicester, Leicestershire, England, on 5 January 1821.[1] He was educated at the Merchant Taylors' School, London.[2] He was brought up as an architect, and shortly after his articles had expired left England for New Zealand, arriving in Auckland in 1844.[2]

Life in Auckland

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The Battle of Kororāreka happened in the Bay of Islands in March 1845 and there were fears that the fighting would spread to Auckland, which at the time was the capital of New Zealand.[3] Wood was made lieutenant of Volunteer Artillery, and was present at the attempted storming of Hōne Heke's pā at Ohaeawai on 1 July 1845. He was mentioned in Colonel Henry Despard's despatch describing that affair.[2] After the war Wood returned to Auckland, where he practised his profession of architect and surveyor. About 1848 he was employed by the Government as Inspector of Roads, afterwards he was appointed Deputy Surveyor-General, which office he retained until 1856.[2] He was tasked with the design of the General Assembly House, which was built in 1854 in Auckland as New Zealand's first meeting house for the House of Representatives.[4]

Political career

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New Zealand Parliament
Years Term Electorate Party
1861–1865 3rd Parnell Independent
1870 4th Parnell Independent
1871–1875 5th Parnell Independent
1875–1878 6th Parnell Independent
1879–1881 7th Waitemata Independent

Wood was elected to the Auckland Provincial Council in the Suburbs of Auckland electorate on 7 October 1857. He served for the duration of the third council until the end of the term on 12 September 1861.[5]

Wood was the Member of Parliament for Parnell from January 1861 to 1865 (resigned), then 1870 to 1878 (resigned); then for Waitemata from 1879 to 1881, when he retired.[6] He also had a second term on the provincial council, where he represented the Parnell electorate on the seventh council from 29 November 1873 until the abolition of the provincial government system on 31 October 1876.[5] From May to October 1875, he was part of the Auckland Executive Council (equivalent to a cabinet).[7]

In the House of Representatives, he was a cabinet minister, including the positions of Minister of Finance (then called Colonial Treasurer) twice, and Minister of Defence (then called Minister of Colonial Defence). He was part of the Auckland wing of the Liberal Party, sometimes called the "Auckland Rats".

He stood in the 1887 election in the Waitemata electorate and was defeated by Richard Monk.[8][9]

Later life

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Wood later became chairman of the Auckland Gas Company following his retirement from politics.[10]

Private life and death

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On 20 May 1850, he married Mary Jane Holland at St Paul's Church, Auckland's oldest Anglican church.[11] He died at his home in Parnell, Auckland, on 20 August 1895, leaving his widow and one son, and was buried at St Stephen's Cemetery, Parnell.[12] He was survived by one son and his wife,[11] who died in 1898 and is buried in the same grave.[13]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ "England, select births and christenings, 1538–1975". Ancestry.com Operations. 2014. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d Mennell, Philip (1892). "Wood, Hon. Reader Gilson" . The Dictionary of Australasian Biography. London: Hutchinson & Co – via Wikisource.
  3. ^ "The sacking of Kororāreka". Ministry for Culture and Heritage. 2 April 2019. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
  4. ^ Wilson 1985, p. 314.
  5. ^ a b Scholefield 1950, p. 186.
  6. ^ Wilson 1985, p. 247.
  7. ^ Scholefield 1950, p. 181.
  8. ^ "Waitemata". Auckland Star. Vol. XVIII, no. 218. 17 September 1887. p. 8. Retrieved 17 April 2012.
  9. ^ Wilson 1985, p. 220.
  10. ^ Jones, Martin (8 August 2001). "Melanesian Mission Building and Stone Garden Walls". Heritage New Zealand.
  11. ^ a b Foster, Bernard John (1966) [First published in 1966]. "Wood, Reader Gillson". In McLintock, A. H. (ed.). An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand. Ministry for Culture and Heritage / Te Manatū Taonga.
  12. ^ "Death of Mr Reader Wood". Auckland Star. 21 August 1895. p. 2. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
  13. ^ "Mary Jane Holland Wood". Find a Grave. Retrieved 24 May 2021.

References

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  • Scholefield, Guy (1950) [First published in 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1949 (3rd ed.). Wellington: Govt. Printer.
  • Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.
Government offices
Preceded by Colonial Treasurer
1861–1862
1862–1864 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Dillon Bell
 Succeeded by
New office Minister for Colonial Defence
1862–1863 		Succeeded by
New Zealand Parliament
New constituency Member of Parliament for Parnell
1861–1865
1870–1878 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Waitemata
1879–1981 		Succeeded by
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