Charles Wilson (New Zealand Reform Party politician)

Charles Wilson
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Taumarunui
In office
7 December 1911 – 10 December 1914
Preceded byWilliam Jennings
Succeeded byWilliam Jennings
Personal details
Born1862 (1862)
Sydney, Australia
Died19 November 1934(1934-11-19) (aged 71–72)
Te Kuiti, New Zealand
PartyReform
Spouse
​
(m. 1892)​
OccupationFarmer

Charles Kendall Wilson (1862 – 19 November 1934) was a Reform Party Member of Parliament in New Zealand.

Biography

Early life and career

Wilson was born in Sydney, Australia and came to New Zealand aged 16 with his parents. He farmed at Levin then he was the West Coast manager for Abraham, and Williams Ltd for 18 years. He then moved to the King Country in 1910 where he returned to farming in Piopio.[1][2][3]

Political career

New Zealand Parliament
Years Term Electorate Party
1911–1914 18th Taumarunui Reform

He was elected to the Taumarunui electorate in the 1911 general election, but was defeated in 1914 by Liberal William Thomas Jennings.[4] On 14 May 1915 Jennings' election was declared void. Wilson contested the electorate in the subsequent by-election, but was unsuccessful. At the 1919 general election he stood as an Independent Reform candidate in the Waitomo electorate. He finished second, beaten by Jennings again.[5]

Later life and death

He died in 1934 .[6] His widow Helen Wilson wrote a highly regarded autobiography in which she recalls the bidding by the liquor trade for him to vote against or even just abstain on a 1910 bill which provided that only a 55-45 percent majority of the vote would be needed to bring in Prohibition. The Trade offered to pay his election expenses, and rose to expenses plus eight hundred pounds, but then they found cheaper support. She said: my husband was incorruptible.[7]

References

  1. ↑ "Obituary". The Evening Post. 19 November 1934 – via Papers Past.
  2. ↑ "Obituary". Horowhenua Chronicle. 19 November 1934 – via Papers Past.
  3. ↑ "Obituary". The New Zealand Herald. 20 November 1934 – via Papers Past.
  4. ↑ Scholefield, Guy (1950) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1949 (3rd ed.). Wellington: Govt. Printer. p. 148.
  5. ↑ Hislop, J. (1921). The General Election, 1919. National Library. pp. 1–6. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
  6. ↑ "Obituary". Northern Advocate. 22 November 1934 – via Papers Past.
  7. ↑ Wilson, Helen (1955). My first eighty years. Hamilton: Paul's Book Arcade.


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