William Thomas Locke Travers (January 1819 – 23 April 1903) was a New Zealand lawyer, politician, explorer, and naturalist.

Early life

Travers was born near

Newcastle West Newcastle West () or simply Newcastle (''An Caisleán Nua'', formerly anglicised Castlenoe) is a town in west County Limerick, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is the largest town in the county, excluding Limerick city. It is also the county t ...

County Limerick County Limerick () is a western Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Reg ...

, Ireland, either on 9 or 19 January 1819. His father chose to retire to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, and Travers was consequently brought up there. He was educated in

Saint-Malo Saint-Malo (, , ; Gallo language, Gallo: ; ) is a historic French port in Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany (administrative region), Brittany. The Fortification, walled city on the English Channel coast had a long history of piracy, earning much wealth ...

, a town in

Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

. In 1835, he joined the British military, and was part of the

British Auxiliary Legion The British Auxiliary Legion, also called the British Legion (''La Legión Británica'') or Westminster Legion, existed from 1835 to 1837. It was a British military force sent to Spain to support the Liberals and Queen Isabella II of Spain agains ...

that fought in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

First Carlist War The First Carlist War was a civil war in Spain from 1833 to 1840, the first of three Carlist Wars. It was fought between two factions over the succession to the throne and the nature of the Monarchy of Spain, Spanish monarchy: the conservative a ...

. After his military service ended, Travers became a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

. In 1849, he and his family moved to

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

, New Zealand, where he continued to practice law. Later, he also lived in

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

and

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

. He purchased Englefield Lodge in Christchurch in 1866 and sold the property in 1872 to Edward Stevens.

Political career

Travers' political career covered both national and provincial politics. He was a member of the

1st New Zealand Parliament The 1st New Zealand Parliament was a term of the Parliament of New Zealand. It opened on 24 May 1854, following New Zealand's first general election (held the previous year). It was dissolved on 15 September 1855 in preparation for that year's ...

, representing first the

Town of Nelson Nelson is a New Zealand parliamentary electorate, returning one Member of Parliament to the House of Representatives of New Zealand. From 1853 to 1860, the electorate was called Town of Nelson. From 1860 to 1881, it was City of Nelson. The ele ...

and then Waimea electorates, and served in the brief Forsaith Ministry formed by

Thomas Forsaith Thomas Spencer Forsaith, JP (18 July 1814 – 29 November 1898), was a New Zealand politician and an Auckland draper. According to some historians, he was the country's second premier, although a more conventional view states that neither he no ...

. In the 1st Parliament, the

was a two member electorate. On nomination day on 25 July

1853 Events January–March * January 6 – ** Florida Governor Thomas Brown signs legislation that provides public support for the new East Florida Seminary, leading to the establishment of the University of Florida. **U.S. President-elect ...

, Travers and James Mackay were the only candidates put forward. They were thus declared elected unopposed. Parliament's first term started on 24 May 1854. Travers and

William Cautley William Oldfield Cautley (1822 – 17 February 1864) was a New Zealand settler and politician. Early life and family Cautley was born in the English county of Buckinghamshire in 1822, the son of the Reverend Richard Cautley. He was educated at ...

, MP for Waimea, both resigned on 26 May 1854. Travers subsequently contested the electorate that Cautley had vacated, being elected in the 21 June

1854 Waimea by-election The 1854 Waimea by-election was a by-election held in the multi-member electorate of during the 1st New Zealand Parliament, on 21 June 1854, and was the second by-election in New Zealand political history (and the first contested by-election), c ...

. He was re-elected in the 1855 general election, but was disqualified on 26 July 1859. Travers returned in the 4th Parliament as representative for the City of Christchurch, after winning the 1867 by-election. He resigned on 29 July 1870 before the end of the term. He was a member of the 6th Parliament as representative for the City of Wellington, having won the 1877 by-election. He resigned on 25 January 1878. He also served in the councils of

Nelson Province Nelson Province was constituted in 1853 under the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852, and originally covered the entire upper South Island, including all of present-day Buller District, Buller, Kaikoura District, Kaikoura, Marlborough District, ...

and

Canterbury Province The Canterbury Province was a province of New Zealand from 1853 until the abolition of provincial government in 1876. Its capital was Christchurch. History Canterbury was founded in December 1850 by the Canterbury Association of influential En ...

, and unsuccessfully stood for the superintendency of both. He stood as one of seven candidates for the Nelson Provincial Council in August 1853 in the Town of Nelson electorate, where five seats were elected. He came sixth and was thus not elected. He represented

in parliament from 1877 to 1881, but was not elected when he stood again in

1893 Events January * January 2 – Webb C. Ball introduces railroad chronometers, which become the general railroad timepiece standards in North America. * January 6 – The Washington National Cathedral is chartered by Congress; th ...

. In Wellington he was City Solicitor, and was an advocate for the ''west coast railway'' in 1878. He subsequently became company solicitor to the

Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company The Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company (WMR or W&MR) was a private rail transport, railway Railway company, company that built, owned and operated the Wellington–Manawatu Line, Wellington-Manawatu railway line between Thorndon, New Zeal ...

which built the line north from Wellington to the Manawatu. His most significant political contribution was his campaign to make central government (rather than provincial government) responsible for education.

Author

Travers was a frequent contributor to scientific journals and was also the author of ''Stirring Times of

Te Rauparaha Te Rauparaha ( – 27 November 1849) was a Māori rangatira, warlord, and chief of the Ngāti Toa iwi. One of the most powerful military leaders of the Musket Wars, Te Rauparaha fought a war of conquest that greatly expanded Ngāti Toa south ...

''.

Explorer, naturalist, photographer

At the same time, Travers was also an avid

explorer Exploration is the process of exploring, an activity which has some Expectation (epistemic), expectation of Discovery (observation), discovery. Organised exploration is largely a human activity, but exploratory activity is common to most organis ...

and

naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

, often mounting expeditions into the less well known parts of New Zealand. He was responsible for tracing the source of the Waiau River, and gave the Ada River its name. He also collected many samples of mountain

grasses Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in ...

and

flower Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

s, sending them to the

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. An internationally important botanical research and education institution, it employs 1,10 ...

. Travers was also responsible for drafting the legislation that created the

Wellington Botanic Garden Wellington Botanic Garden ki Paekākā is a botanical garden close to central Wellington in New Zealand. It covers of land in a valley between Thorndon, New Zealand, Thorndon and Kelburn, New Zealand, Kelburn, with Glenmore Street as a bounda ...

, and was a Botanic Garden board member for 22 years.

Death and commemoration

Travers died in an accident at the

Lower Hutt Lower Hutt () is a list of cities in New Zealand, city in the Wellington Region of New Zealand. Administered by the Hutt City Council, it is one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington#Wellington metropolitan area, Wellington metropoli ...

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

on 27 April 1903, when attempting to alight from a moving train. His funeral was held at Lower Hutt, and he was buried in the Bolton Street Cemetery, Wellington. His first wife Jane died in 1888 aged 67 years old, and he remarried to Theodora Leslie Barclay in 1891; she remarried to Colonel Edward Wood in 1905. So he left a widow (Theodora) from his second marriage, and a son

Henry Travers Travers John Heagerty (5 March 1874 – 18 October 1965), known professionally as Henry Travers, was an English film and stage character actor who specialised in portraying slightly bumbling but amiable and likeable older men. His best known ...

) from his first marriage. His descendants settled in Marlborough. The

Travers River The Travers River is in the South Island of New Zealand. It lies within the borders of the Nelson Lakes National Park. The valley through which the river flows is popular with trampers and is part of the Travers-Sabine tramping circuit, which ...

in the Travers Valley, as well as the nearby Mt Travers, the Travers Saddle in the Travers Range, Upper Travers Hut and the

Travers-Sabine Circuit The Travers-Sabine Circuit is a popular tramping route in Nelson Lakes National Park, New Zealand. The full circuit takes about five to six days, although many side-trips are possible for longer tramps. The circuit involves both bush-walking ...

Nelson Lakes National Park Nelson Lakes National Park is in the South Island of New Zealand, at the northern end of the Southern Alps. It was created in 1956 (one of four created in the 1950s). The park contains beech forests, multiple lakes, snow-covered mountains and v ...

are named after him, as is the Travers Room at the Rainbow Ski Area. At least one plant species, ''

Olearia traversiorum ''Olearia traversiorum'', the Chatham Island akeake, or Chatham Island tree daisy, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It is endemic to the Chatham Islands of New Zealand. It is also known by the Synonym (taxonomy), synony ...

'', was named for him (and his son).

Notes

References

External links

Travers-Sabine Circuit
track description {{DEFAULTSORT:Travers, William Thomas Locke 1819 births 1903 deaths Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives Members of the Canterbury Provincial Council 19th-century New Zealand lawyers New Zealand people of Irish descent Politicians from County Limerick British Auxiliary Legion personnel New Zealand MPs for Christchurch electorates Railway accident deaths in New Zealand Members of Canterbury provincial executive councils Unsuccessful candidates in the 1893 New Zealand general election Members of the Nelson Provincial Council New Zealand writers Unsuccessful candidates in the 1866 New Zealand general election New Zealand naturalists