Henry Jackson (surveyor)

Henry Jackson (1830 – 29 October 1906) was a New Zealand politician who served as a member of the House of Representatives (M.H.R.) in the Wellington region. An officer of the Royal Indian Navy and naval surveyor, he was in New Zealand on leave of duty when control of the Indian Navy changed from the East India Company to the British government in India, following the 1857 Indian Mutiny. He worked as a surveyor and was dismissed as chief surveyor of Wellington District in 1879. He successfully stood in a parliamentary by-election but was in the House of Representatives for only one month before the house was prorogued, and lost his position in the subsequent general election.

Henry Jackson
Jackson in naval uniform, 1860s
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Hutt
In office
2 July 1879 – 15 August 1879
Preceded byWilliam Fitzherbert
Succeeded byThomas Mason
Personal details
Born
Henry Jackson

1830 (1830)
England
Died29 October 1906(1906-10-29) (aged 76)
Lower Hutt, New Zealand
RelationsSir John Jackson, 1st Baronet (grandfather)
Occupation
  • Naval officer
  • surveyor

Early life and naval career

Jackson was born in England in 1830.[1] His parents were John Jackson and Honoria Anna Maria Jackson, who both died at Hutt Valley within a week of one another in May and June 1869.[2][3] His grandfather was Sir John Jackson, 1st Baronet, who was chairman of the board of the East India Company.[4] He received his education at York Mechanics' Institute. Aged 15, he joined the Royal Indian Navy and during his 17 years of service, he advanced from midshipman to lieutenant.[1] During his time in the navy, he trained as a surveyor. When he was in charge of the survey ship Krishna, one of his naval surveys was that of the Cocos channel, the water between Burma to the north and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to the south. He was part of the group of surveyors under Fenwick Williams that defined the boundary between the Ottoman Empire and Persia. As part of that survey, he rode from the Persian Gulf to Mount Ararat and from there to Trabzon (then known as Trebizond) on the Black Sea. For the next three years, he worked at Constantinople to document that work. He travelled extensively in Persia, Armenia, and India. Apart from his native English, he spoke French, Arabic, Persian, and Hindi.[1][5]

New Zealand career
Jackson's house, Blackbridge, in Lower Hutt

Jackson was in New Zealand on a two-year furlough from 1862 to visit his parents. During that time, the Indian Navy was disestablished.[4] He was appointed to the New Zealand Survey Department in September 1862, not long after he arrived in New Zealand.[6] After three years as a district surveyor, he became chief surveyor of Wellington Province.[1] After the abolition of the provincial system, Jackson was chief surveyor of the Wellington District until he was dismissed in March 1879 via a notice in the Gazette. In October 1880 following a petition to parliament, the dismissal was cancelled by the acting governor-general and converted into a resignation.[7][8]

New Zealand Parliament
Years Term Electorate Party
1879 6th Hutt Independent

On 14 June 1879, William Fitzherbert resigned his membership of the House of Representatives, where he represented the Hutt electorate, to take up the speakership of the New Zealand Legislative Council.[9] The resulting 2 July 1879 by-election was contested by Thomas Mason and Jackson, with The Evening Post pointing out that the candidates had near-identical political views.[10] Jackson won the by-election by a large margin.[11]

Jackson represented the Hutt electorate from this by-election to the 1879 general election. His period of service was 2 July to 15 August; he was a member of the House of Representatives for 44 days, the shortest period of any New Zealand MP.[12][13] Jackson was sworn in on 11 July 1879 when the fourth session of the sixth parliament started.[14] The sixth parliament was dissolved on 11 August 1879.[15]

On 2 September, Jackson and Mason put their candidacies forward for the 1879 general election.[16] At the election a week later, which had a slightly higher turnout, Mason unexpectedly won.[17] At the 1881 election in the Hutt electorate, Jackson was one of four candidates but the incumbent retained the seat.[18]

In April 1886, Jackson was appointed judge of the Assessment Court (a court that set land values for rating purposes). The area covered included the town districts of Johnsonville, Kaiwarra, Lower Hutt, and Petone.[19] He also served as a justice of the peace for about 30 years, and was one of the first members of the Wellington College board of governors.[4]

Family

Jackson's eldest daughter, Edith Emily, married the third son of Jabez Waterhouse, Rowland Skipsey, at St James' Church in Lower Hutt in February 1883.[20] His eldest son, Reginald Jackson, became a lawyer.[21]

Jackson died at his home in Lower Hutt from a cold on 29 October 1906. He was survived by his wife, six sons, and two daughters.[22] He was buried at the St James churchyard.[23] His wife died in November 1914.[24]

References
  1. Scholefield, Guy, ed. (1940). A Dictionary of New Zealand Biography : A–L (PDF). Vol. I. Wellington: Department of Internal Affairs. p. 432.
  2. "Deaths". The Wellington Independent. Vol. XXIV, no. 2841. 27 May 1869. p. 2. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  3. "Death". The Evening Post. Vol. V, no. 96. 3 June 1869. p. 2. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  4. "An interesting career". Wairarapa Age. Vol. XXIX, no. 8283. 10 November 1906. p. 7. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  5. "A Hutt veteran". Wairarapa Daily Times. Vol. XXVII, no. 7418. 24 March 1903. p. 2. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  6. "District surveyor". Wellington Independent. Vol. XVII, no. 1809. 27 December 1862. p. 5. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  7. "The case of Mr Henry Jackson". The Evening Post. Vol. XVIII, no. 140. 11 December 1879. p. 2. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  8. "The vital statistics". The Evening Post. Vol. XX, no. 242. 15 October 1880. p. 2. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  9. "Resignation of Sir William Fitzherbert for the Hutt". New Zealand Mail. No. 383. 14 June 1879. p. 15. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  10. "Evening Post". Vol. XVII, no. 545. 25 June 1879. p. 2. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  11. "The Hutt election". The Evening Post. Vol. XVIII, no. 3. 3 July 1879. p. 2. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  12. Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. p. 208. OCLC 154283103.
  13. "Members of Parliament – Longest, shortest, oldest, youngest". New Zealand Parliament. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  14. "The opening of parliament". Otago Daily Times. No. 5428. 12 July 1879. p. 3. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  15. Scholefield, Guy (1950) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1949 (3rd ed.). Wellington: Govt. Printer. p. 68.
  16. "The Hutt nomination". The Evening Post. Vol. XVIII, no. 57. 4 September 1879. p. 2. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  17. "The Hutt election". The Evening Post. Vol. XVIII, no. 62. 10 September 1879. p. 2. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  18. "The general elections". New Zealand Times. Vol. XXXVII, no. 6462. 30 December 1881. p. 6. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  19. "Untitled". New Zealand Times. Vol. XLVI, no. 7770. 30 April 1886. p. 2. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  20. "Marriages". New Zealand Times. Vol. XL, no. 6816. 24 February 1883. p. 2. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  21. "The proposed amendment of the Municipal Act". The Evening Post. Vol. XXXIV, no. 132. 2 December 1887. p. 2. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  22. "Personal matters". The Evening Post. Vol. LXXII, no. 103. 29 October 1906. p. 7. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  23. "Untitled". Hutt City. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  24. "Personal items". The Dominion. Vol. 8, no. 2308. 16 November 1914. p. 5. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
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