{{Short description|New Zealand politician (1810/1811?–1865)}} {{Use New Zealand English|date=February 2012}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}} {{Infobox officeholder |honorific_prefix = |name = John Robinson |honorific_suffix = |image = John Perry Robinson.jpg |alt = Portrait of a man with a full beard in his 40s or 50s |caption = Robinson |birth_name = John Perry Robinson |birth_date = 1810/1811? |birth_place = [[Surrey]], England |death_date = 28 January 1865 (aged 53–55) |death_place = [[Buller River]] bar, New Zealand |spouse = Mary Gaskell (married 1836), ten children |order = 2nd [[Nelson Province|Superintendent of Nelson Province]] |term_start = 1856 |term_end = 28 January 1865 |predecessor = <!-- see succession box --> |successor = <!-- see succession box --> |profession = Woodturner, storekeeper, politician }}
'''John Perry Robinson''' (1810/1811? – 28 January 1865) was the second [[Superintendent (politics)|Superintendent]] of the [[Nelson Province]] in New Zealand. His election came as a surprise, but he proved so popular that he won two subsequent elections with comfortable majorities. He remained Superintendent until his accidental drowning on the bar of the [[Buller River]].
==Early life==
Robinson is believed to have been born in [[Surrey]], England. His year of birth is uncertain (either 1810 or 1811). He married Mary Gaskell on 22 October 1836 at [[Derby]].<ref name="DNZB Robinson">{{cite web | url=http://www.dnzb.govt.nz/dnzb/alt_essayBody.asp?essayID=1R13 | title= Robinson, John Perry 1810/1811? – 1865 | last= Armstrong | first= David A. | date= 22 June 2007 |publisher=[[Dictionary of New Zealand Biography]] | accessdate= 12 September 2010}}</ref> They had two children (Eliza (b. 1838) and Samuel (b. 1840) when they decided to emigrate to New Zealand.<ref name="family tree">{{cite web |title=John Perry ROBINSON |url=http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~teecee/html/fam/fam00821.htm |publisher=Gedpage |accessdate=14 September 2010 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110610132714/http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~teecee/html/fam/fam00821.htm |archivedate=10 June 2011}}</ref> They arrived in [[Nelson, New Zealand|Nelson]] on the ''Phoebe'' on 29 March 1843.<ref name="DNZB Robinson" />
==Life in New Zealand==
The economic situation in Nelson in the early 1840s was difficult. The [[New Zealand Company]] had not managed to attract a sufficient number of landowners to the area and ended up being the major employer themselves. This led to a shortage of employment positions, and the pay was considered inadequate.<ref name="DNZB Robinson" />
In April 1844, Robinson was appointed headmaster of a school in Bridge Street. The following year, he moved to the [[Bay of Islands]] to run an agency for the brewery Hooper and Company. That business failed and he moved to [[Auckland]], but was back in Nelson by 1848. He was employed as a storekeeper before working in his original trade of [[woodturning]] again. In 1855, he went to [[Motupipi]] in [[Golden Bay / Mohua|Golden Bay]] (then known as Massacre Bay) to establish a sawmill with three partners.<ref name="DNZB Robinson" />
==Political career==
[[File:Nelson Provincial buildings.jpg|left|thumb|alt=B&w photo of Nelson Provincial Council buildings|Nelson Provincial Council buildings]] In April 1850, Robinson chaired a meeting of labourers, when it was decided to approach the New Zealand Company for its unfulfilled promises. The issues were lack of work and difficult working conditions.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Locke|first=Elsie|title=Three Ordeals for a Gentle Settler or John Kidson's Long Journey Home |journal=Nelson Historical Society Journal |date=September 1977 |volume=3 |issue=3 |page=8 |url=https://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-NHSJ03_03-t1-body1-d2.html|accessdate=15 September 2010 }}</ref> He followed this up in 1852 with a letter to [[Governor-General of New Zealand|Governor]] [[George Grey]], and in 1854 brought the issue to the attention of the [[New Zealand Government]].<ref name="DNZB Robinson" />
While living in Golden Bay, Robinson was urged to stand for election to the Nelson Provincial Council in 1855 as the representative in the Massacre Bay electorate.<ref>{{cite news |title=To Mr J P Robinson |url= https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NENZC18550804.2.9.1 |accessdate=18 September 2010 |work=Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle |volume=XIV |issue=37 |date=4 August 1855 |page=2 }}</ref> At the nomination meeting, the election was contested by Robinson and W. R. Nicholson. A show of hands indicated a majority for Robinson, who was thus declared duly elected.<ref>{{cite news |title=Local Intelligence |url= https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NENZC18550818.2.5 |accessdate=18 September 2010 |work=Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle |volume=XIV |issue=41 |date=18 August 1855 |page=2 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Government Gazette |url= https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NENZC18550825.2.8.1 |accessdate=18 September 2010 |work=Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle |volume=XIV |issue=43 |date=25 August 1855 |page=3 }}</ref>
[[Edward Stafford (politician)|Edward Stafford]], the first Superintendent of Nelson, resigned from the position in September 1856. Robinson and [[David Monro (New Zealand politician)|David Monro]] contested the superintendency on class issues. Monro had represented [[Waimea (New Zealand electorate)|Waimea]] in the [[1st New Zealand Parliament|1st Parliament]] and thus had a high political profile. Robinson represented 'the man of small means' (he has been described as a believer in a "society of small-property owners"<ref>{{cite web |last=Austin |first=Steve |title=Marlborough Independence |url=http://www.marlboroughmuseum.org.nz/blog/index.mvc?articleID=60 |publisher=Marlborough Museum |accessdate=18 September 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100513071011/http://www.marlboroughmuseum.org.nz/blog/index.mvc?articleID=60 |archive-date=13 May 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref>), whereas Monro represented the wealthier colonists. An history of Nelson published in 1892 described the election campaign as "the keenest, best fought, political battle ever seen in Nelson".<ref name="1892 Nelson history">{{cite book|last=Broad |first=Lowther |title=The Jubilee History of Nelson: From 1842 to 1892 |year=1892 |publisher=Bond, Finney, and Co |url=https://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-LowJubi-t1-body1-d8.html |accessdate=18 September 2010 |location=Nelson |pages=121–22 }}</ref> On voting day (31 October 1856<ref>{{cite news |title=Election of Superintendent |url= https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NENZC18561101.2.7 |accessdate=18 September 2010 |work=Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle |date=1 November 1856 |volume=XV |page=2 }}</ref>), the turnout was low. Many of Monro's supporters stayed away, as Robinson was never expected to be able to win.<ref name="DNZB Robinson" /> Robinson and Monro received 425 and 409 votes, respectively. With a majority of 16 votes, Robinson was declared elected.<ref>{{cite news |title=Local Intelligence |url= https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NENZC18561210.2.6 |accessdate=18 September 2010 |work=Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle |volume=XV |issue=73 |date=10 December 1856 |page=2 }}</ref>
[[File:John Perry Robinson2.jpg|right|thumb|alt=B&w portrait photo of a middle-aged man with a white beard|Photo of Robinson]] The 1857 superintendency was contested by Robinson against John Waring Saxton.<ref name="1857 nomination meeting">{{cite news |title=Election of Superintendent |url= https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NENZC18570912.2.6 |accessdate=18 September 2010 |work=Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle |date=12 September 1857 |volume=XVI |page=2 }}</ref> Saxton had been representing Waimea South on the Provincial Council since 1853.<ref>{{cite web|title=John Waring Saxton 1807–1866 |url=http://www.theprow.org.nz/john-waring-saxton/ |publisher=The Prow |accessdate=18 September 2010 }}</ref> The election on Thursday, 8 October 1857<ref name="1857 election date">{{cite news |title=Election of Superintendent |url= https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NENZC18571010.2.6 |accessdate=18 September 2010 |work=Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle |date=10 October 1857 |volume=XVL |page=2 }}</ref> resulted in 681 and 451 votes for Robinson and Saxton, respectively. With a majority of 230 votes, Robinson was re-elected.<ref name="1857 prelim 270 majority">{{cite news |title=Election of Superintendent |url= https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NENZC18571014.2.6 |accessdate=18 September 2010 |work=Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle |date=14 October 1857 |volume=XVI |page=3 }}</ref><ref name="1857 final results">{{cite news |title=The Elections |url= https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TC18571023.2.2 |accessdate=18 September 2010 |work=Colonist |date=23 October 1857 |issue=1 |page=1 }}</ref>
The next election was held in December 1861. Robinson and [[John Barnicoat]] contested it. Barnicoat was an early settler, having arrived in Nelson in 1842. He was elected to the first Provincial Council in 1853 and later in life (1883–1902) served on the [[New Zealand Legislative Council|Legislative Council]].<ref name="John Barnicoat">{{cite web|title=John Wallis Barnicoat 1814–1905 |url=http://www.theprow.org.nz/john-wallis-barnicoat/|publisher=The Prow |accessdate=18 September 2010 }}</ref> The election was held on Monday, 23 December 1861<ref>{{cite news |title=The Nelson Examiner: Wednesday, December 25, 1861 |url= https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NENZC18611225.2.7 |accessdate=18 September 2010 |work=Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle |volume=X |issue=111 |date=25 December 1861 |page=2 }}</ref> resulted in a large majority of 443 votes for Robinson, who received 685 votes, while Barnicoat got 242 votes.<ref>{{cite news |title=General Government Gazette |url= https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NENZC18620115.2.7 |accessdate=18 September 2010 |work=Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle |volume=XXI |issue=5 |date=15 January 1862 |page=2 }}</ref>
Robinson thus served three terms as Superintendent, being elected in 1856, 1857 and 1861,<ref name="Scholefield 1950">{{cite book |last= Scholefield |first= Guy |title= New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1949 |author-link=Guy Scholefield |edition=3rd |orig-date= First ed. published 1913 |year= 1950 |publisher=Govt. Printer |location= Wellington |page=209}}</ref> with his majority increasing at each succeeding election.<ref name="1892 Nelson history" />
During his second term, Robinson laid the foundation stone for the Provincial Government Buildings in Nelson on 26 August 1859.<ref name="1892 Nelson history" />
===Separation of Marlborough from Nelson===
There was considerable conflict between Robinson's policies of supporting smaller land holders, and the objectives of the large pastoral run-holders in the [[Wairau Valley]]. The New Provinces Act 1858 allowed for parts of a province to break away if the area was large enough, and enough voters supported such a move. The petition was signed by almost all settlers; only six withholding their support for a split. The new [[Marlborough Province]] was gazetted on 4 October 1859.<ref name="Marlborough separation">{{cite web|title=The separation of Nelson and Marlborough |url=http://www.theprow.org.nz/the-separation-of-nelson-and-marlborough/ |publisher=The Prow |accessdate=18 September 2010 }}</ref>
==Death and commemoration==
Robinson undertook an official visit on the steamer ''Wallaby'' to the [[West Coast, New Zealand|West Coast]] to visit the new [[West Coast gold rush|gold fields]] and some coal deposits. On 28 January 1865, Robinson and a party of eight including his son Edward, were lowered into a boat to go ashore, but this boat overturned on the bar of the Buller River. Robinson, the ''Wallaby'''s chief officer and two of her crewmen were drowned. Robinson's son Edward survived, only to be drowned 23 years later in similar circumstances at the Waitapu entrance, while attempting to take a boat from the coaster steamer ''Lady Barkly'' into [[Motupipi]], Golden Bay, on 2 August 1888. John Robinson's body was never found.<ref name="DNZB Robinson" /> He was survived by his wife, two sons and seven daughters.<ref>{{cite book |title = The Cyclopedia of New Zealand : Nelson, Marlborough & Westland Provincial Districts |year = 1906 |url = https://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-Cyc05Cycl-t1-body1-d1-d1-d2.html#name-431280-mention |author=Cyclopedia Company Limited |accessdate = 18 September 2010 |location = Christchurch |chapter = Superintendents of Nelson }}</ref> Robinson Street in [[Greymouth]] is named after him.<ref>{{cite web |last=Buckley |first=Frances |title=Greymouth street names: A short history, compiled by Frances Buckley |url=http://ketewestcoast.peoplesnetworknz.info/site/documents/show/38-greymouth-street-names-a-short-history-compiled-by-frances-buckley |publisher=Kete West Coast |accessdate=18 September 2010 |format=Word doc (follow the link) |archive-date=21 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721230742/http://ketewestcoast.peoplesnetworknz.info/site/documents/show/38-greymouth-street-names-a-short-history-compiled-by-frances-buckley |url-status=dead }}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=LT18650207.2.7 Deplorable Accident at the Buller: Superintendent of Nelson and Three Others Drowned] ''Lyttelton Times'' 7 February 1865. Includes results of the inquest into the accident. * [http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=TC18880804.2.7&e=-------10--1----0-- Fatal Accident] ''Colonist'' 4 August 1888. Report into the drowning of Captain Edward Aldis Robinson.
{{s-start}} {{s-off}} {{s-bef|before=[[Edward Stafford (politician)|Edward Stafford]]}} {{s-ttl|title=[[Nelson Province|Superintendent of Nelson Province]]|years=1856–1865}} {{s-aft|after=[[Alfred Saunders]]}} {{end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, John Perry}} [[Category:1810s births]] [[Category:1865 deaths]] [[Category:Superintendents of New Zealand provincial councils]] [[Category:Politicians from Surrey]] [[Category:Deaths by drowning in New Zealand]] [[Category:Members of the Nelson Provincial Council]]