Frederic Alonzo Carrington (11 October 1807 – 15 July 1901) was a 19th-century New Zealand politician and surveyor. He is regarded as the Father of

New Plymouth New Plymouth () is the major city of the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after the English city of Plymouth, in Devon, from where the first English settlers to New Plymouth migrated. The New Pl ...

. Carrington was born in

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Colchester and Southend-on-Sea. It is located north-east of London ...

, Essex, England, in 1807, the son of Captain William Carrington. He was 15 years in the Ordnance Survey Department. Then he was appointed by the

New Zealand Company The New Zealand Company, chartered in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom, was a company that existed in the first half of the 19th century on a business model that was focused on the systematic colonisation of New Ze ...

as Chief Surveyor to the Plymouth Company and surveyed the new settlement of

. He arrived in

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 ...

with his family in the ship ''

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 ...

'' in December 1840 as a cabin passenger. In 1844, he returned to England, and undertook surveying for parliamentary committees in England and Scotland. In 1851, he displayed iron made from Taranaki iron sand at

The Great Exhibition The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, also known as the Great Exhibition or the Crystal Palace Exhibition (in reference to the temporary structure in which it was held), was an international exhibition that took ...

, London. From 1851 to 1856 he investigated business proposals in California and other parts of America, Paris and Belgium. He left for New Zealand with his family in January 1857 and in 1862 was made Government Engineering Surveyor for Taranaki. He finally obtained a grant of land in 1877. He was Superintendent of

Taranaki Province The Taranaki Province was a Provinces of New Zealand, province of New Zealand from 1853 until the abolition of provincial government in 1876. Initially known as New Plymouth Province, the province was renamed on 1 January 1859 as the Taranaki Pro ...

from 1869 to 1876 (when the

Provinces A province is an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outside Italy. The term ''provi ...

were abolished), and was the member of Parliament for

Omata Omata is a locality in Taranaki, in the western North Island of New Zealand. It is located on State Highway 45 just southwest of New Plymouth. Omata and Western New Plymouth are adjacent to the Tapuae Marine Reserve. The area was the site of ...

in 1870 and then Grey and Bell from 1871 to 1879 when he retired. He had stood unsuccessfully in the for Statue FredericCarrington

He was a member of the Harbour Board (now Port Taranaki), and an advocate of an adequate harbour for New Plymouth. In 1881, Carrington laid the first stone for the main breakwater at the port, using a trowel made from Taranaki ironsand. Carrington died in New Plymouth and is buried in the family grave in Te Henui Cemetery. Carrington Street, a New Plymouth arterial route, and its extension Carrington Road, which winds between the Pouakai and Kaitake ranges, are named for him. He is regarded as the father of New Plymouth.

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References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Carrington, Frederic Alonzo 1807 births 1901 deaths Superintendents of New Zealand provincial councils Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand surveyors English surveyors People from Chelmsford People from New Plymouth Burials at Te Henui Cemetery New Zealand MPs for North Island electorates British emigrants to New Zealand 19th-century New Zealand politicians