Hugh Percy Murray-Aynsley (8 October 1828 – 22 February 1917) was a 19th-century Member of Parliament in

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

, New Zealand.

Early life

Murray-Aynsley was born in

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

, England, in 1828. His father was John Murray-Aynsley (1795–1870) from Little Harle Tower, his grandfather was Lord Charles Murray-Aynsley (1771–1808), and his great-grandfather was

John Murray, 3rd Duke of Atholl John Murray, 3rd Duke of Atholl, Order of the Thistle, KT, Privy Council of the United Kingdom, PC (6 May 1729 – 5 November 1774), known as John Murray until 1764, was a Scottish peer and Tory (political faction), Tory politician. Backgrou ...

(1729–1774). His mother was Emma Sarah Peach, and his mother's grandfather was Henry Cruger. His grandfather was baptised as Charles Murray and upon his marriage to Alicia Mitford (1768–1813), the heiress of her great-uncle, Gawen Aynsley, Esq, he assumed the additional surname Aynsley. Murray-Aynsley was educated privately; his tutor later became

Bishop of Ely The Bishop of Ely is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Ely in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese roughly covers the county of Cambridgeshire (with the exception of the Soke of Peterborough), together with ...

. For a time, Murray-Aynsley managed a sugar plantation in

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for his cousin, Sir William Miles, with the firm operating as Miles & Co. He came to

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

on the ''Royal Bride'', and from there to New Zealand in 1858, arriving on the ''Queen'' in Lyttelton.

Life in New Zealand

He was manager and the principal partner for the Christchurch branch of Miles & Co, a stock and station agency. He married Elizabeth Campbell on 7 June 1859. In 1862, Murray-Aynsley purchased Riverlaw, a rural property at the bottom of Rapaki Track adjacent to the Ōpāwaho / Heathcote River originally owned by Alexander Lean. Sometime between 1885 and 1892, Murray-Aynsley had a two-storey homestead built. He sold Riverlaw in 1905 to George John Smith, who further enlarged the house including the addition of a third storey. On 6 September 1984, the house was registered 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 ...

as a Category II heritage place, with registration number 3728; Riverlaw was regarded as one of the finest colonial homes in Christchurch. It was significantly damaged in the

2011 Christchurch earthquake A major earthquake occurred in Christchurch on Tuesday 22 February 2011 at 12:51 p.m. New Zealand Daylight Time, local time (23:51 Coordinated Universal Time, UTC, 21 February). The () earthquake struck the Canterbury Region ...

and demolished soon after. Murray-Aynsley also bought the Mount Hutt Station in the Canterbury foothills from Alexander Lean. In 1873, he was one of the founders of the

New Zealand Shipping Company The New Zealand Shipping Company (NZSC) was a shipping company whose ships ran passenger and cargo services between Great Britain and New Zealand between 1873 and 1973. A group of Christchurch businessmen founded the company in 1873, similar ...

. He was one of the directors, and then chairman of directors until his death.

Political career

He was a member of the Canterbury Provincial Council for the Town of Lyttelton electorate from 6 February 1864 to 7 May 1866. He was a member of the Canterbury Executive Council from 22 July 1862 to 13 November 1863 under Robert Wilkin, and for a few days until his resignation under Thomas Cass. He was Deputy Superintendent from 31 May 1869 to August 1872 and stood in for William Rolleston in 1869 who was 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 ...

attending

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

. He represented the Lyttelton electorate in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

from

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to 1879, when he was defeated by

Harry Allwright Harry Allwright (1837 – 18 July 1892) was a 19th-century Member of Parliament in Canterbury, New Zealand. A painter and glazier by trade, he came out with his parents and siblings in the '' Cressy'' in 1850, one of the First Four Ships. He to ...

, the Mayor of Lyttelton. Note that some sources, for example Wilson (1985) and Scholefield (1950), list him under the surname ''Aynsley''.

Death and legacy

Murray-Aynsley died on 22 February 1917 at his residence at 38 Holly Road,

St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...

, Christchurch. He was buried at Woolston Cemetery. A variety of geographic features commemorate Murray-Aynsley. A spur of 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 ...

above the old homestead is known as Murray Aynsley Hill. Two roads on the true right of the Ōpāwaho / Heathcote River, initially known as River Road, were renamed. While Murray-Aynsley was still alive, the road from Opawa Bridge to Rapaki Track was renamed Aynsley Terrace; the homestead was located at the Rapaki Track end of this road. The next section of road upstream from here was renamed to Riverlaw Terrace in the following year some months after Murray-Aynsley's death. Harold Street in

Sydenham Sydenham may refer to: Places Australia * Sydenham, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney ** Sydenham railway station, Sydney * Sydenham, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne ** Sydenham railway line, the name of the Sunbury railway line, Melbourne un ...

was on land that belonged to Murray-Aynsley; it was initially known as Aynsleys Alley No 4, and then Aynsley Street.

Notes

References

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Murray-Aynsley, Hugh 1828 births 1917 deaths New Zealand stock and station agents Burials at Woolston Cemetery

Hugh Hugh is the English-language variant of the masculine given name , itself the Old French variant of '' Hugo (name)">Hugo'', a short form of Continental Germanic Germanic name">given names beginning in the element "mind, spirit" (Old English ). ...

Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand MPs for Christchurch electorates Members of Canterbury provincial executive councils People from Gloucestershire English emigrants to New Zealand Unsuccessful candidates in the 1879 New Zealand general election Lyttelton Harbour Board members