Sir David Monro (27 March 1813 – 15 February 1877) was a New Zealand politician. He served as

Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives In New Zealand, the speaker of the House of Representatives, commonly known as the speaker of the House (), is the presiding officer and highest authority of the New Zealand House of Representatives The House of Representatives () is the ...

from 1861 to 1870.

Early life

Monro was born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

. His father was Alexander Monro, a lecturer at the Edinburgh Medical College. Monro was from a long line of doctors, the Monro of Fyrish family that was a branch of

clan Munro Clan Munro (; ) is a Highland Scottish clan. Historically the clan was based in Easter Ross in the Scottish Highlands. Traditional origins of the clan give its founder as Donald Munro who came from the north of Ireland and settled in Scotland i ...

. He graduated as a

Doctor of Medicine A Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated MD, from the Latin language, Latin ) is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the ''MD'' denotes a professional degree of ph ...

from his father's college in 1835. After first studying for a time in Paris, Berlin and

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, Monro established a medical practice in Edinburgh. In 1841, however, Monro bought land in the planned settlement at

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. He arrived in Nelson the following year. Monro married Dinah Secker on 7 May 1845 and they had five sons and two daughters, including Charles Monro, who introduced

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

to New Zealand, and Maria Georgiana Monro, who married the Scottish geologist, naturalist, and surgeon

James Hector Sir James Hector (16 March 1834 – 6 November 1907) was a Scottish-New Zealand geologist, naturalist, and surgeon who accompanied the Palliser Expedition as a surgeon and geologist. He went on to have a lengthy career as a government employed ...

Political career

In 1843, following the

Wairau Affray The Wairau Affray of 17 June 1843, also called the Wairau Massacre and the Wairau Incident, was the first serious clash of arms between British settlers and Māori people, Māori in New Zealand after the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi and t ...

, Monro was chosen (along with

Alfred Domett Alfred Domett (20 May 18112 November 1887) was the fourth Prime Minister of New Zealand, premier of New Zealand, a close friend of the poet Robert Browning and author of the epic poem ''Ranolf and Amohia, a South Sea Day Dream''. Born in Englan ...

, later to become

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

) to present the Nelson settlers' views to

Willoughby Shortland Commander Willoughby Shortland (30 September 1804 – 7 October 1869) was a British naval officer and colonial administrator. He was New Zealand's first Colonial Secretary from 1841, after having arrived in New Zealand with Lieutenant Governor ...

, the acting

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

. Partly as a result of this attention, Monro was appointed to the Legislative Council of the

New Munster Province New Munster was an early original European name for the South Island of New Zealand, given by the Governor of New Zealand, Captain William Hobson, in honour of Munster, the Irish province in which he was born. Province When New Zealand was se ...

in 1849, but resigned after a dispute with Governor

George Grey Sir George Grey, KCB (14 April 1812 – 19 September 1898) was a British soldier, explorer, colonial administrator and writer. He served in a succession of governing positions: Governor of South Australia, twice Governor of New Zealand, Gov ...

. In 1853, Monro was elected to 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 the seat of Waimea. He was re-elected in the same seat for the 2nd Parliament in 1858. At the beginning of the 3rd Parliament, to which Monro had been elected as representative of Picton, he was selected as Speaker. He is generally regarded as having conducted this duty "with dignity", although his use of the Speaker's

casting vote A casting vote is a vote that someone may exercise to resolve a tied vote in a deliberative body. A casting vote is typically by the presiding officer of a council, legislative body, committee, etc., and may only be exercised to break a deadlock ...

to unseat Premier William Fox in 1862 was controversial. At the 1866 general election, he successfully contested the Cheviot electorate and declared elected unopposed. Monro remained Speaker until 1870, when he announced that he would step down. William Fox, who was once again Premier, failed to move the traditional vote of thanks. Monro contested the

Motueka Motueka is a town in the South Island of New Zealand, close to the mouth of the Motueka River on the western shore of Tasman Bay. It is the second largest in the Tasman Region, with a population of as of The surrounding district has a numb ...

seat in the 1871 elections, and was declared elected. A subsequent petition, however, overturned this result. The committee that made the ruling had a government majority, and some of its findings have been deemed "legally dubious" – many believe that the decision was taken for political reasons. Furthermore, a proposal to appoint Monro to the

Legislative Council A legislative council is the legislature, or one of the legislative chambers, of a nation, colony, or subnational division such as a province or state. It was commonly used to label unicameral or upper house legislative bodies in the Brit ...

was blocked by Fox. Monro nevertheless succeeded in re-entering Parliament through a 1872 by-election in

Waikouaiti Waikouaiti is a small town in East Otago, New Zealand, within the city limits of Dunedin. The town is close to the coast and the mouth of the Waikouaiti River. Today, Waikouaiti is a retail trade and servicing centre for the surrounding dist ...

. After the Fox government had been defeated, Monro resigned in 1873.

Life outside politics

For some time, Monro leased Warwick House, at the time known as ''Sunnyside''. The house was built for Arthur Fell (father of Charles Fell) in 1854 by builder David Goodall. When Fell returned to England, Monro leased the house. Later, the house was bought by Nathaniel Edwards. The building at 64 Brougham Street in Nelson is one of the finest and largest examples of early Victorian Gothic Revivalism still remaining in New Zealand. At one time, the house had about 50 rooms. The building was registered on 25 November 1982 as Category II with

Heritage New Zealand Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga (initially the National Historic Places Trust and then, from 1963 to 2014, the New Zealand Historic Places Trust; in ) is a Crown entity that advocates for the protection of Archaeology of New Zealand, ancest ...

, with registration number 1618. Monro was knighted in 1866. He died at his home, Newstead (now known as Renwick House), in

Nelson, New Zealand Nelson () is a List of cities in New Zealand, city and Districts of New Zealand, unitary authority on the eastern shores of Tasman Bay at the top of the South Island of New Zealand. It is the oldest city in the South Island and the second-old ...

, on 15 February 1877. The perennial herb endemic to New Zealand '' Myosotis monroi'' and the species of speargrass ''

Aciphylla monroi ''Aciphylla monroi'', also known as little speargrass, is a species of speargrass endemic to New Zealand. Description It is a small speargrass with spiky leaves and white or yellow flowers. The leaves are up to long and grey-green or yellowish. ...

'' are named after him.

References

Sources

* *"The Monros of Auchinbowie and Cognate Families". By John Alexander Inglis. Edinburgh. Printed privately by T and A Constable. Printers to His Majesty. 1911. , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Monro, David 1813 births 1877 deaths Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives Speakers of the New Zealand House of Representatives Members of the Nelson Provincial Council Politicians from Edinburgh New Zealand Knights Bachelor 19th-century New Zealand medical doctors New Zealand MPs for South Island electorates Alumni of the University of Edinburgh 19th-century Scottish medical doctors 19th-century Scottish people Scottish emigrants to New Zealand Unsuccessful candidates in the 1871 New Zealand general election

David David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Dam ...

Early life

Political career

Life outside politics

See also

References

Sources