Thomas Alfred Sneyd Kynnersley (14 June 1839 – 1 February 1874), who signed as T. A. Sneyd Kynnersley, was a 19th-century Member of Parliament from the West Coast, New Zealand.

Early life

He was born in

Uttoxeter Uttoxeter ( , ) is a market town and civil parish in the East Staffordshire borough of Staffordshire, England. It is near to the Derbyshire county border. The town is from Burton upon Trent via the A50 and the A38, from Stafford via the A51 ...

in the

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, the son of

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magistrate Thomas Clement Sneyd-Kynnersley and his wife, Eliza. Mary Palmer Kynnersley was his twin sister and

Loxley Hall Loxley Hall is an early-19th-century country house near Uttoxeter, Staffordshire, now occupied by a Staffordshire County Council special school for boys with challenging behaviour difficulties. It is a Grade II* listed building. An early manor ...

was the country house of the family.

Goldfield warden

He retired from the navy due to ill health and settled in New Zealand at

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in the early 1860s. He was appointed warden for Pelorus gold fields in late 1864 and soon transferred to the West Coast during the

West Coast gold rush The West Coast gold rush, on the West Coast, New Zealand, West Coast of New Zealand's South Island, lasted from 1864 to 1867. Description The gold rush populated the area, which up until then had been visited by few Europeans. Gold was found ...

. He was based at Cobden and controlled the area from the Grey River to

Karamea Karamea is a town on the West Coast, New Zealand, West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It is the northernmost settlement of any real size on the West Coast, and is located northeast by road from Westport, New Zealand, Westport. Apart ...

in the north. On an exploration journey in early 1865 with Bill Fox and others, they found gold at the mouth of the Potikohua River (now known as Fox River). Kynnersley moved his residence north to Brighton (now known as Tirimoana at the mouth of the Fox River), then to Charleston at the Waitakere (Nile) River, and then to Westport. Kynnersley is described as a capable administrator, as popular and also daring. The Nelson provincial government appointed him chief warden and commissioner of the Nelson South West goldfield in January 1867. Kynnersley had

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

and because of ongoing sickness, he resigned from his positions at the end of 1868, going to

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in January 1869. He spent some time in England and in a letter published in ''

The London Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fo ...

'', he commented on

Earl Granville Earl Granville is a title that has been created twice, once in the Peerage of Great Britain and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It is now held by members of the Leveson-Gower family. First creation The first creation came in the Pee ...

's despatch (as

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to Sir

George Bowen Sir George Ferguson Bowen ( zh, 寶雲; 2 November 1821 – 21 February 1899), was an Anglo-Irish author and colonial administrator whose appointments included postings to the Ionian Islands, Queensland, New Zealand, Victoria, Mauritius and H ...

Governor of New Zealand A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...

). He returned on the ''Lincolnshire'' to Melbourne in November 1869 and arrived in New Zealand in February 1870 on the ''Tararua''. He was offered and accepted the role as goldfield warden in the Wangapeka, where he was favourably received.

Political career

At the same time as becoming warden for Wangapeka, Kynnersley (alongside Arthur Collins) was appointed to the Executive of the Nelson Provincial Council by the province's

Superintendent Superintendent may refer to: *Building superintendent, a manager, maintenance or repair person, custodian or janitor, especially in the United States; sometimes shortened to "super" *Prison warden or superintendent, a prison administrator *Soprin ...

, John Perry Robinson. Collins and Kynnersley held their executive appointments from 15 March to 4 June 1870. Kynnersley's appointment proved controversial and Robinson was threatened with censure and a vote of no confidence. In this situation, Kynnersley chose to resign with effect of 4 June. Simultaneously, a vacancy occurred in the

Westland North Westland North was a parliamentary electorate on the West Coast of New Zealand from 1868 to 1870. History The Westland Representation Act 1867 introduced changes to the Waimea and Westland electorates. Their areas were reassigned and four ele ...

parliamentary electorate through Timothy Gallagher's resignation and on 1 June 1860, Kynnersley advertised his candidacy. He stood as an independent, but supporting the Fox Ministry in their stance on the New Zealand War. He also advocated for the abolition of the provincial government system. Kynnersley was unopposed in the resulting 2 July by-election and represented the electorate until the dissolution of the 4th Parliament on 30 December, when he retired.

Notes

References

* *

External links

Speech given by Kynnersley
in Westport in April 1870
Undated portrait photograph
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kynnersley, Thomas 1839 births 1874 deaths Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand jurists New Zealand MPs for South Island electorates People from Uttoxeter English emigrants to New Zealand Royal Navy officers 19th-century New Zealand politicians Burials at Wakapuaka Cemetery Members of Nelson provincial executive councils 19th-century Royal Navy personnel Military personnel from Staffordshire