John Edie (New Zealand politician)
John Edie (1856 – 7 June 1928) was a Liberal Party Member of Parliament in the Otago region of New Zealand. He was a surveyor and an engineer, and also spent time as a farmer. He was Mayor of Lawrence.
Early life
Edie was born in Newcastle, New South Wales in 1856. He came to New Zealand as a child and attended school in Waitahuna near Lawrence.[1][2] He joined the survey department in 1873 and surveyed the Catlins River Branch railway line, but construction did not start until 1879.[1] In 1876, at age 20, he became assistant surveyor to the Government.[2]
He joined the Tuapeka County Council in 1885 as an engineer and remained in that position until 1919, when he resigned to stand in the 1919 election.[1]
Political career
| Parliament of New Zealand | ||||
| Years | Term | Electorate | Party | |
| 1920–1922 | 20th | Bruce | Liberal | |
| 1922–1925 | 21st | Clutha | Liberal | |
In the 1896 election, Edie contested the Clutha electorate.[3] Before the election, he was criticised for standing for the Liberal Party, thus claiming to represent the working man, yet underpaying staff at his mine.[4] He was soundly beaten by the conservative incumbent, James Thomson.[5]
Edie contested the Bruce electorate in the 1919 election as a Liberal against the incumbent, Reform's James Allen. Edie was beaten by the small margin of 126 votes (2.15%).[6] After Allen's resignation in March 1920,[7] Edie won the Bruce electorate in a 1920 by-election.[8] At the time of the election, he was Mayor of Lawrence.[2]
In the 1922 general election he won the Clutha electorate, but lost Clutha in 1925 to the Reform candidate Fred Waite.[9]
Later life and death
Edie was for a time captain of the Tuapeka Rifles.[10] He was into mining, especially gold mining, and had an interest in a mine at Island Block (a locality on State Highway 8 between Beaumont and Ettrick).[1] He shared an interest in a farm of 900 acres (360 ha) in Tuapeka West with two sons.[2][10]
Edie died on 7 June 1928 at Lawrence after having been bed-ridden with heart problems for six months.[10]
His son, H K Edie, unsuccessfully contested the 1935 and 1938 elections in the Clutha electorate against James Roy.[11][12][13]
Notes
- 1 2 3 4 Scholefield 1940, p. 227.
- 1 2 3 4 "The New Member". The Oamaru Mail. XLIV (14033). 15 April 1920. p. 3. Retrieved 17 November 2013.
- ↑ "Candidates for the General Election". The Evening Post. LII (33). 2 July 1896. p. 5. Retrieved 17 November 2013.
- ↑ "Mr John Edie's Candidature for Clutha". Clutha Leader. XXIII (1165). 30 October 1896. p. 6. Retrieved 17 November 2013.
- ↑ "The Elections". Hawera & Normanby Star. XXXIII (3416). 7 December 1896. p. 2. Retrieved 17 November 2013.
- ↑ The New Zealand Official Year-Book. Government Printer. 1920. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
- ↑ Wilson 1985, p. 179.
- ↑ Wilson 1985, p. 194.
- ↑ Wilson 1985, pp. 194, 242.
- 1 2 3 "Mr John Edie". The Evening Post. CV (134). 8 June 1928. p. 10. Retrieved 17 November 2013.
- ↑ "How the votes were cast". The Evening Post. CXX (130). 28 November 1935. p. 8. Retrieved 16 November 2013.
- ↑ "General Election". The Evening Post. CXX (10). 11 July 1935. p. 14. Retrieved 16 November 2013.
- ↑ "The General Election, 1938". National Library. 1939. p. 2. Retrieved 8 February 2012.
References
- Scholefield, Guy, ed. (1940). A Dictionary of New Zealand Biography : A–L (PDF). I. Wellington: Department of Internal Affairs. Retrieved 16 November 2013.
- Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First published in 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.
| New Zealand Parliament | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by James Allen |
Member of Parliament for Bruce 1920–1922 |
Constituency abolished |
| Preceded by Alexander Malcolm |
Member of Parliament for Clutha 1922–1925 |
Succeeded by Fred Waite |