{{Short description|New Zealand politician, surveyor, engineer (1814–1905)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2017}} {{Use New Zealand English|date=January 2017}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = [[The Honourable]] | name = John Barnicoat | honorific_suffix = | image = John W. Barnicoat.jpg | alt = | caption = Barnicoat (year unknown) | office7 = Member of the [[New Zealand Legislative Council]] | term_start7 = 14 May 1883 | term_end7 = 21 June 1902 | birth_date = June 1814 | birth_place = [[Falmouth, Cornwall|Falmouth]], [[Cornwall]], England | death_date = 2 February 1905 (aged 90) | death_place = [[Nelson, New Zealand|Nelson]] | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = | birth_name = John Wallis Barnicoat | spouse = {{marriage|Rebecca Lee Hodgson|1849}} | relations = | children = [[Constance Barnicoat]] | alma_mater = | occupation = | profession = | signature = }} '''John Wallis Barnicoat''' (June 1814 – 2 February 1905) was an English civil engineer and surveyor who emigrated to New Zealand. In his chosen homeland, he became a local politician in [[Nelson, New Zealand|Nelson]]. Towards the end of his life, he was a member of the [[New Zealand Legislative Council]] for 19 years.
==Early life== Barnicoat was born in [[Falmouth, Cornwall|Falmouth]], [[Cornwall]], England in June 1814.<ref name="Colonist obit">{{cite news |title=Obituary |url= https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TC19050203.2.8 |access-date=6 November 2020 |work=Colonist |volume=XLVII |issue=11248 |date=3 February 1905 |page=2}}</ref> He received his early education at Falmouth proprietary school and then articled to a civil engineer. He practised in that profession for some years before he left England on the ''[[Lord Auckland (ship)|Lord Auckland]]'' for New Zealand. The ''Lord Auckland'' left from the [[West India Docks]] in London on 25 September 1841 and they arrived in Nelson on 23 February 1842.{{sfn|Scholefield|1940|p=41}}
==Life in New Zealand== Barnicoat took up survey contracts in Waimea and the [[Lower Moutere|Moutere valley]] for the [[New Zealand Company]]. He worked alongside fellow civil engineer Thomas John Thompson<!-- Q101208482 --> with whom he had shared a cabin on the ''Lord Auckland''.{{sfn|Scholefield|1940|p=41}}<ref>{{cite news |title=Obituary |url= https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TC19010105.2.8 |access-date=6 November 2020 |work=Colonist |volume=XLIV |issue=9998 |date=5 January 1901 |page=2}}</ref> Barnicoat was present at the [[Wairau Affray]] and escaped without injury together with fellow surveyor [[Frederick Tuckett]].<ref name="Prow bio">{{cite web |last1=Stephens |first1=Joy |title=John Wallis Barnicoat 1814-1905 |url=http://www.theprow.org.nz/people/john-wallis-barnicoat/#.X6eka4j7S73 |publisher=The Prow |access-date=8 November 2020 |date=24 April 2020}}</ref> Together with Tuckett, Barnicoat then surveyed the districts of [[Motueka]] and [[Tākaka]]. During 1844, Barnicoat travelled as an assistant to Tuckett along the east coast of the South Island to find a suitable "New Edinburgh" settlement for the New Zealand Company; Tuckett's choice of [[Dunedin]] as the site was later accepted.{{sfn|Scholefield|1940|p=41}}<ref>{{DNZB|Somerville|Ross|1t108|Frederick Tuckett |9 November 2020}}</ref> In late 1844, Barnicoat settled on land near [[Richmond, New Zealand|Richmond]]. Further exploration happened in 1846, when he explored [[Pelorus Sound / Te Hoiere]] in the [[Marlborough Sounds]], and in 1850, when he searched for a more direct route connecting Nelson and the Wairau alongside [[John Tinline]]. They found a route through [[Rai Valley]] and the [[Tinline River]] commemorates the discovery.{{sfn|Scholefield|1940|p=41}}
==Political career== Barnicoat was elected to the first [[Nelson Province|Nelson Provincial Council]] in August 1853 in the Waimea East electorate.<ref>{{cite news |title=Election of provincial councillors for Waimea East |url= https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NENZC18530813.2.20.4 |access-date=4 November 2020 |work=Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle |volume=XII |issue=597 |date=13 August 1853 |page=7}}</ref> He remained a representative for Waimea East until the end of 1876, i.e. the whole period that the provincial council system was in place.{{sfn|Scholefield|1950|p=212}} From January 1858, he was the council's second Speaker (succeeding Donald Sinclair) for the council's remaining period.{{sfn|Scholefield|1950|p=210}} On 23 December 1861, Barnicoat unsuccessfully contested the position of [[Superintendent (New Zealand)|Superintendent]] of [[Nelson Province]] against the incumbent, [[John Perry Robinson]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Untitled |url= https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TC18611224.2.7 |access-date=9 November 2020 |work=Colonist |volume=IV |issue=435 |date=24 December 1861 |page=2}}</ref> After Robinson died on 28 January 1865, Barnicoat was acting Superintendent for two months. He was the council's last Deputy Superintendent from July 1875.{{sfn|Scholefield|1950|pp=209f}}
Barnicoat was a member of the [[New Zealand Legislative Council]] from 14 May 1883 to 21 June 1902, when he resigned.<ref>{{cite book |last= Wilson |first= Jim | author-link=Jim Wilson (librarian) |title= New Zealand parliamentary record, 1840–1984 |edition= 4 |orig-year= First ed. published 1913 |year= 1985 |publisher=V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer |location= Wellington |oclc= 154283103 |page=149}}</ref>
==Private life== Barnicoat married Rebecca Lee Hodgson in 1849. During 1865, Barnicoat and her brother, William Charles Hodgson (1826–1894), were both members of the Nelson Provincial Council.{{sfn|Scholefield|1940|pp=41, 402f}}
Barnicoat died at his home in Hardy Street, Nelson, on 2 February 1905.<ref>{{cite news |title=Deaths |url= https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NEM19050202.2.7 |access-date=5 November 2020 |work=[[Nelson Evening Mail]] |volume=XL |issue=25 |date=2 February 1905 |page=2}}</ref> He was the father of [[Constance Barnicoat]].{{sfn|Scholefield|1940|p=41}}
==Notes == {{Reflist}}
==References == *{{cite book | editor-last = Scholefield | editor-first = Guy | editor-link = Guy Scholefield | title = A Dictionary of New Zealand Biography : A–L | volume = I | year = 1940 | publisher = [[Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand)|Department of Internal Affairs]] | location = Wellington | url = https://nzhistory.govt.nz/sites/default/files/documents/dnzb-1940/scholefield-dnzb-v1.pdf}} *{{Cite book |last= Scholefield |first= Guy |title= New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1949 |author-link=Guy Scholefield |edition=3rd |orig-year= First ed. published 1913 |year= 1950 |publisher=Govt. Printer |location= Wellington}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Barnicoat, John}} [[Category:1814 births]] [[Category:1905 deaths]] [[Category:People from Falmouth, Cornwall]] [[Category:Members of the New Zealand Legislative Council]] [[Category:Members of the Nelson Provincial Council]]