Charles Bigg Wither
Charles Bigg Wither | |
|---|---|
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| Member of the New Zealand Legislative Council | |
| In office 15 October 1863 – 9 November 1863 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 27 April 1822 Manydown Park, Wootton St Lawrence, Hampshire, England |
| Died | 28 June 1894 (aged 72) Wensley Hill, Richmond, New Zealand |
| Resting place | Richmond Cemetery |
| Relations | Thomas Plantagenet Bigg-Wither (nephew) |
| Alma mater | University of Edinburgh |
| Occupation | farmer |
Charles Bigg Wither, or Charles Bigg-Wither (27 April 1822 – 28 June 1894) was a member of the New Zealand Legislative Council for a short period in 1863.
Early life and ancestry[edit]
Wither was born in 1822 at Manydown Park, a manor in Wootton St Lawrence, Hampshire, England.[1] His father was Harris Bigg-Wither (1781–1838), who was Lord of the Manor at Manydown from 1813 to 1833[2] and is famous for having proposed to Jane Austen.[3] The engineer and writer Thomas Plantagenet Bigg-Wither, a son of his eldest brother Lovelace Bigg-Wither (1805–1874), was his nephew.[4] The Lords of the Manor at Manydown were initially from the Wither family. When William Wither V (1733–1789) died, he had no heir, and a cousin with the surname Bigg—the Reverend Lovelace Bigg (1741–1813)—became his successor. He and his sons took on the surname Bigg-Wither. In all New Zealand sources, Charles Bigg Wither is referred to simply as Wither (or C. B. Wither) and thus appears to have used Bigg as his middle name only.
Biography[edit]
Wither received his education at Winchester and at the University of Edinburgh. He came to New Zealand on the Ursula in 1843 and settled near Nelson.[5][6] He owned a sheep station at the Taylor River upstream from Blenheim from about 1848. He sold the land in 1867 to Ralph Richardson and to the father of Henry Redwood.[7] The Wither Hills south of Blenheim, which were part of his sheep run, are named for him.[6] Wither himself lived in Richmond where he had another farm.[5]
Wither was one of the original nine trustees of Nelson College; other notable foundation trustees were Charles Elliott, David Monro, John Barnicoat, William Wells, and Alfred Domett.[8]
Wither was a member of the Legislative Council from 15 October to 9 November 1863, when he resigned.[9] His membership appeared in a gazette notice (stating that he had been summoned to the council),[10] but he declined the membership.[11]
Wither died at Wensley Hill in Richmond on 28 June 1894.[12] He is buried at Richmond Cemetery.[13] His sons Frederick and James were the executors of his will.[14]
References[edit]
- ^ "Charles Bigg-Wither & Eleanor Burn". Family Forest website. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
- ^ "Harris Bigg-Wither & Anne Howe Frith". Family Forest website. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
- ^ "JASA Home". legacy.owensboro.kctcs.edu. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
- ^ "Lovelace Bigg-Wither & Emma Jemima Orde". Family Forest website. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
- ^ a b The Hon. Charles Bigg Wither. Christchurch: The Cyclopedia of New Zealand. 1906. p. 29. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
- ^ a b Matthews, Nevil (1988). "Whether The Maori could Weather The Wither". Journal of the Nelson and Marlborough Historical Societies. 2 (2). Retrieved 22 August 2017.
- ^ Denton, Ralph T. (October 1984). "Early Sheep Runs of Marlborough". Journal of the Nelson and Marlborough Historical Societies. 1 (4).
- ^ "Annual Report of the Board of Trustees of the Nelson Trust Funds, for the Year Ending 21st December, 1857". The Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle. Vol. XVII, no. 3. 9 January 1858. p. 2. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
- ^ Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. p. 167. OCLC 154283103.
- ^ "General Government Gazette". The Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle. Vol. XXII, no. 114. 12 November 1863. p. 4. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
- ^ "Resignations". The Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle. Vol. XXII, no. 127. 12 December 1863. p. 3. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
- ^ "Deaths". Colonist. Vol. XXXVII, no. 7978. 29 June 1894. p. 3. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
- ^ "Cemetery Records in Tasman District". Archived from the original on 21 August 2017. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
- ^ "Nelson Evening Mail". Vol. XXVIII, no. 156. 6 July 1894. p. 2. Retrieved 22 August 2017.