Thomas Mason (28 July 1818 – 11 June 1903) was a New Zealand quaker, runholder, horticulturalist and Member of Parliament.

Biography

He was born in

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

, England, on 28 July 1818. He attended

Bootham School Bootham School is a private Quaker boarding school, on Bootham in the city of York in England. It accepts boys and girls ages 3–19 and had an enrolment of 605 pupils in 2016. It is one of seven Quaker schools in England. The school was ...

, York. He was not elected in the for the Hutt, but was successful in the subsequent general election. He represented the Hutt electorate from to 1884, when he was defeated. Hohepa 37

He was chairman of both the Wellington Botanic Garden Board and Hutt County Council. Mason Street in the

Lower Hutt Lower Hutt () is a list of cities in New Zealand, city in the Wellington Region of New Zealand. Administered by the Hutt City Council, it is one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington#Wellington metropolitan area, Wellington metropoli ...

suburb of Moera was named after him. His daughter, Elizabeth Catherine Mason, was the mother of Thomas Wilford. Mason died at his home in the Hutt and was buried at Taita Cemetery. In 2012 the New Zealand International Arts Festival premiered the opera ''

Hōhepa The opera ''Hōhepa'', composed by Jenny McLeod, premiered at the Opera House in Wellington in March 2012, in a production by NBR New Zealand Opera. It starred Phillip Rhodes, Deborah Wai Kapohe, Jonathan Lemalu, and Rawiri Paratene. It r ...

'' composed by

Jenny McLeod Jennifer Helen McLeod (12 November 1941 – 28 November 2022) was a New Zealand composer and professor of music at Victoria University of Wellington. She composed several major works for big groups including ''Under the Sun'' for four orchestr ...

about the relationship between Mason and Māori chief

Hōhepa Te Umuroa Hōhepa Te Umuroa (died 19 July 1847) was a Māori man of the Te Ati Haunui-a-Paparangi tribe (iwi). He is best known as a political prisoner, captured and sentenced with four others who fought alongside Te Rangihaeata. The men were sent to Dar ...

. The opera is set in the Hutt Valley where they met and also

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

, Australia.

References

1818 births 1903 deaths People educated at Bootham School Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand farmers New Zealand horticulturists Unsuccessful candidates in the 1887 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1884 New Zealand general election New Zealand MPs for Hutt Valley electorates English emigrants to New Zealand 19th-century New Zealand politicians New Zealand Quakers Burials at Taitā Lawn Cemetery {{NewZealand-politician-stub