Arthur Collins (politician)

Arthur Shuckburgh Collins (31 December 1832 – 26 September 1911), later spelling his surname Collyns, was a 19th-century Member of Parliament from Nelson, New Zealand.

Arthur Collins in 1860

Early life and education

Collins was born on 31 December 1832 in Devon, son of William Wrangham Collins (1799–1880) and Henrietta (1799–1861), daughter of Reverend Charles Shuckburgh, of The Moot, Downton, Wiltshire.[1] He received a 'good education'.[2] The family emigrated to Nelson on the Pekin from London, arriving on 15 January 1850.[3] In his younger years, he excelled in sports.[2]

Career
New Zealand Parliament
Years Term Electorate Party
1868–1870 4th Collingwood Independent
1871–1873 5th Collingwood Independent
1881 7th Suburbs of Nelson Independent

Collins represented the Collingwood electorate from 1868 to 1873, when he resigned.[4] He was a Provincialist, but once elected, he changed his mind and became an ardent supporter of the abolition of the provinces.[2] He then represented the Suburbs of Nelson electorate in 1881 from 11 January to 8 November, when he retired.[4] He was a member of the Nelson Provincial Council from 13 Nov 1869 to 28 June 1872, representing the Nelson electorate. From March to June 1870, he was a member of the Nelson executive council.[5]

Personal life
Collins' second wife, Erica Elspeth Collins, c. 1876)

On 29 September 1855, at Christchurch, Collins married Catherine Anne, daughter of Thomas Isaacson, of Brighton, East Sussex, and niece and adopted daughter of Reverend J. F. Isaacson, rector of Freshwater, Isle of Wight. They had three daughters: Henrietta, Adelaide, and Emily. Following Catherine's death, he married Erica Elspeth, daughter of James Mackay, of Drumduan, Nelson, New Zealand; they had five sons (the eldest being the teacher and cricketer John Ulric Collins) and five daughters.[1][6] His daughter, Erica Catherine, married John Sharp, the son of John Sharp, in 1887.[7]

In the 1870s, he changed the spelling of his surname to Collyns. He lived at Hillwood, near Nelson, and at Mount Fyffe, at Kaikōura.[1]

Collyns died in Nelson on 26 September 1911.[8] He is buried, as are his wives, at Wakapuaka Cemetery.

References
  1. Armorial Families, third edition, A. C. Fox-Davies, T. C. & E. C. Jack, 1899, p. 188
  2. "Nelson Evening Mail. Friday, January 14, 1881". Nelson Evening Mail. Vol. XVI, Issue 12. 14 January 1881. p. 2. Retrieved 12 April 2012.
  3. "Passenger Lists" (PDF). Nelson City Council. p. 117. Retrieved 12 April 2012.
  4. Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. p. 189. OCLC 154283103.
  5. Scholefield, Guy (1950) [First published in 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1949 (3rd ed.). Wellington: Govt. Printer. p. 212.
  6. The Spectator, April 5, 1856 in collected vol. 29, F. C. Westley, 1856, p. 363, "Marriages"
  7. "Marriage". Nelson Evening Mail. Vol. 21, no. 303. 12 October 1887. p. 2. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
  8. "Death". Nelson Evening Mail. Vol. XLVI. 28 September 1911. p. 4. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
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