John Sharp (1828 – 4 June 1919) was a 19th-century Member of Parliament from

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 and Mayor of Nelson.

Early life

Sharp was born in

Maidstone Maidstone is the largest Town status in the United Kingdom, town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town, l ...

, Kent, England, in 1828. He was educated at Chatham House College,

Ramsgate Ramsgate is a seaside resort, seaside town and civil parish in the district of Thanet District, Thanet in eastern Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century. In 2021 it had a population of 42,027. Ramsgate' ...

, for the Navy for four years. However, he joined the merchant service. He was an honorary member of Lodge Southern Star, No. 735, E.C., of the New Zealand

Freemasons Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

Career

In 1843 Sharp migrated to New Zealand in the ship ''Ursula'' as clerk to Sir Francis Dillon Bell. Next Sharp became a surveyor for 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 ...

. He then received the appointment of assistant clerk to

John Tinline John Tinline (1821 – 26 February 1907) was a Scottish-born New Zealand sheep farmer, politician, and philanthropist. He emigrated briefly to Australia before moving on to New Zealand. He learned Māori language, Māori and was made a magistrate ...

, who was clerk to the Superintendent and Resident Magistrate. When Tinline resigned Sharp became clerk. A few months later he was appointed of Registrar of the Supreme Court. A notable trial during this time related to the Maungatapu murders. When Mr Poynter died, he was appointed Resident Magistrate (1868–1871), Registrar of Deeds, and Deputy Commissioner of Stamps. Sharp held these appointments for three years and then retired. In 1872 he went into partnership with JA and TH Harley as a co–owner of Kent Breweries. In 1876 he took a controlling share of Nelson's largest brewery, changing its name to The City Brewery. This he sold to Harley and Little. His second business interest was Sharp and Sons, an auctioneering firm.

Fellworth House

Sharp commissioned John Scotland, a local builder and architect to construct a substantial 620 square metre, two-story residence for him and his family in 1876 at a cost of 3,000 pounds. The house at 193 Milton Street, was named "Fellworth" after an old English family residence. It was constructed from Rimu, Totara, Matai, and Kauri timber, had an English slate tile roof, and African back basalt steps at its main entrance. Following Sharp's death there on 4 June 1919, the house was sold to the Cawthron Trust Board. From 1920 to 1970 the house was transformed into a series of labs, a library, and a museum. It is now privately owned. Fellworth House is a Category II historic place registered by

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 ...

. It was registered on 25 November 1982 with registration number 1553.

Political life

Provincial Council

Sharp was representative for Waimea East for two years and then representative for Amuri. He held the position of Provincial Treasurer for three years.

Parliament

He represented the City of Nelson electorate from

1875 Events January * January 1 – The Midland Railway of England abolishes the Second Class passenger category, leaving First Class and Third Class. Other British railway companies follow Midland's lead during the rest of the year (Third C ...

to 1879, when he resigned. During Sharp's term in Parliament he enabled

to purchase from the Government the Nelson waterworks and gasworks. The Government had taken these over when the provinces were abolished. He stood unsuccessfully in the 1889 Nelson by-election.

Mayor

Sharp was the Mayor of Nelson from 1887 until 1890. He was first elected to replace Charles Fell who had resigned.

Militia

When the

war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

broke out in the North in 1845, and after the destruction of Kororaraka the Governor, Captain FitzRoy, ordered the

militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...

to be called out in Wellington, New Plymouth and Nelson A hundred men were to be balloted for in Nelson and divided into two companies of fifty each. No 1 Company was under Captain Dr Greenwood, Lieutenant Dr Renwick, Ensign Charles Thorpe of

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 ...

, and Sergeant, Gibson. No 2 Company was under Captain Dr Monro, Lieutenant, Dillon Bell, Ensign A.L.G. Campbell and Sergeant, Plumbridge. The Nelson militia Adjutant was Major Newcombe, a

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

officer and Quarter-master, Mr Seymour. Sharp was one of those balloted. He was placed in No 2 Company. Sharp was made a Corporal because he had had four years drill at college. The militia had a

fife Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...

and drum band. Its leader was Knapp, father of Constable Knapp, of Spring Grove. The drummer was FitzRoy, an old drummer of the Life Guards. The reveille was at 5.30 am and drill twice daily from 6 am to 8 am and 5 pm to 6 pm so that the men could attend work during the day. The militia later became the Nelson Rifles. Sharp was one of its Captains and later an honorary member.'The Colonist', 27 November 1912 He was also a volunteer firefighter, a member of the Nelson Bowling Club, and had the reputation as an excellent cricketer.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sharp, John 1828 births 1919 deaths 19th-century New Zealand politicians 19th-century New Zealand public servants English emigrants to New Zealand Mayors of Nelson, New Zealand Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand Freemasons New Zealand MPs for South Island electorates People from Maidstone