Dingley Askham Brittin (1823–1881) was an English solicitor. He spent three years in New Zealand as a runholder and during that time, he represented the

Christchurch Country Christchurch Country was a parliamentary electorate in the Canterbury region of New Zealand from 1853 to 1860. It was thus one of the original 24 electorates used for the 1st New Zealand Parliament. Geography The area covered by the Christchurc ...

electorate in the

New Zealand House of Representatives The House of Representatives () is the Unicameral, sole chamber of the New Zealand Parliament. The House passes Law of New Zealand, laws, provides Ministers in the New Zealand Government, ministers to form the Cabinet of New Zealand, Cabinet, ...

for one term. Brittin was born in

Huntingdonshire Huntingdonshire (; abbreviated Hunts) is a local government district in Cambridgeshire, England, which was historically a county in its own right. It borders Peterborough to the north, Fenland to the north-east, East Cambridgeshire to the e ...

, England, in 1823. He received an education as a solicitor, but during his time in New Zealand, he did not practice in that profession. Brittin came out to New Zealand on the ''Minerva'' in 1853, together with his wife, and his brother John Danns Brittin, his wife and son. The ''Minerva'', one of the ships chartered by the

Canterbury Association The Canterbury Association was formed in 1848 in England by Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), members of parliament, Peerage of the United Kingdom, peers, and Anglicanism, Anglican church leaders, to establish a colony in New Zealand. The se ...

, had left

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

on 29 September and

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

on 12 October 1852, and arrived in Lyttelton on 2 February 1853. Other notable passengers on the ship were

Henry Sewell Henry Sewell (; 7 September 1807 – 14 May 1879) was a New Zealand politician. He was a notable campaigner for New Zealand self-government, and is generally regarded as having been the country's first premier (a post that would later be offici ...

Edward Gibbon Wakefield Edward Gibbon Wakefield (20 March 179616 May 1862) was an English politician in colonial Canada and New Zealand. He is considered a key figure in the establishment of the colonies of South Australia and New Zealand (where he later served as a ...

, Jane and John Deans, Thomas Rowley, John Cuff, and Elizabeth Torlesse. The Brittin brothers took up run 105 at the mouth of the

Rakaia River The Rakaia River is in the Canterbury Plains in New Zealand's South Island. The Rakaia River is one of the largest braided rivers in New Zealand. The Rakaia River has a mean flow of and a mean annual seven-day low flow of . In the 1850s, Europ ...

. They sold their land in 1854, and took land in the

Port Hills The Port Hills () are a range of hills in Canterbury Region of New Zealand, so named because they lie between the city of Christchurch and its port at Lyttelton, New Zealand, Lyttelton. They are an eroded remnant of the Banks Peninsula Volcano ...

. In the , Brittin was one of four candidates in the two-member

electorate. He came second and represented the electorate in the

2nd New Zealand Parliament The 2nd New Zealand Parliament was a term of the Parliament of New Zealand. It opened on 15 April 1856, following New Zealand's 1855 election. It was dissolved on 5 November 1860 in preparation for 1860–61 election. The 2nd Parliament was th ...

in 1856, but resigned during the 1856 session before the end of his term; the Speaker read out his letter of resignation on 31 July, two weeks before the session finished. He had to return to England on 'urgent business' in 1856 and feared that he may not be back in time for the start of the 1857 parliamentary session. In fact, he did not return to New Zealand, and historian

George Macdonald George MacDonald (10 December 1824 – 18 September 1905) was a Scottish author, poet and Christian Congregational minister. He became a pioneering figure in the field of modern fantasy literature and the mentor of fellow-writer Lewis Carrol ...

noted that he "was not heard of again" in Canterbury. The resulting

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

was won by

John Ollivier John Ollivier (25 March 1812 – 31 July 1893) was a Member of Parliament in New Zealand, but was better known for his membership of the Canterbury Provincial Council. He was the second chairman of the Christchurch Town Council. Early ...

, who beat

Crosbie Ward Crosbie Ward (10 February 1832 – 10 November 1867) was a New Zealand politician who served as member of parliament. Early life Ward was born in Killinchy, Ireland, on 10 February 1832, to Rev. Henry Ward. His paternal grandfather was Edwar ...

. Brittin died in 1881 and is buried at All Saints, the Parish Church of St Ives. His wife Anna Maria Brittin, who died in 1902, is buried next to him.

References

External links

All Saints, the Parish Church of St Ives
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brittin, Dingley Askham 1823 births Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives 1881 deaths New Zealand MPs for South Island electorates People from St Ives, Cambridgeshire Colony of New Zealand people 19th-century New Zealand politicians