Walter Brodie (1811 – 11 September 1884) was a New Zealand politician in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

, on both provincial and national level.

Biography

Brodie was born in 1811 in

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. It is also a non-metropolitan district, local government district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, bor ...

, East Sussex, England, as the sixth of twelve children. His mother was Anna Brodie (1779–1864), the daughter of ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, 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 si ...

'' founder John Walter. His father was Revd Dr Alexander Brodie DD (1773–1828). His parents had married in 1802, and his father had become the Reverend at St Mary's, Eastbourne, in 1809. His grandfather died in 1812, the year after Brodie was born, and his mother inherited 2/16ths of the shares in ''The Times''; the same proportion went to her sister Mary Carden. In 1821, the two sisters and their respective husbands signed an

affidavit An ( ; Medieval Latin for "he has declared under oath") is a written statement voluntarily made by an ''affiant'' or ''deposition (law), deponent'' under an oath or affirmation which is administered by a person who is authorized to do so by la ...

that clarified that the shares were held by the daughters of ''The Times'' founder, and were not the property shared with their husbands. His father died in 1828. Brodie emigrated to the colony in the early 1840s. He returned to England in 1844 and published a book on his experience of New Zealand colonial life titled ''Remarks on the Past and Present State of New Zealand''. Brodie returned to New Zealand, by way of

Pitcairn The Pitcairn Islands ( ; Pitkern: '), officially Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno Islands, are a group of four volcanic islands in the southern Pacific Ocean that form the sole British Overseas Territory in the Pacific Ocean. The four islan ...

. In 1851, he imported English pheasants (''Phasianus colchicus'') and released them near Mongonui. At around the same time, Thomas Henderson imported Chinese pheasants (''Phasianus colchicus torquatus'') and released them on his property on his property, now known as the

suburb of Henderson. Pheasants became common game birds in the North Island. Brodie also imported sparrows into New Zealand. He represented the

Suburbs of Auckland This is a list of suburbs in the Auckland metropolitan area, New Zealand, surrounding the Auckland CBD, Auckland City Centre. They are broadly grouped into their local board areas, and only include suburbs within the metropolitan urban limits ...

electorate in the

2nd New Zealand Parliament The 2nd New Zealand Parliament was a term of the Parliament of New Zealand. It opened on 15 April 1856, following New Zealand's 1855 election. It was dissolved on 5 November 1860 in preparation for 1860–61 election. The 2nd Parliament was th ...

, but resigned before the end of his term on 6 December 1859. He did not serve in any subsequent Parliaments. He also participated in Auckland provincial politics, representing the Suburbs of Auckland electorate in 1855–1857. Upon receiving his inheritance, which included his mother's shareholding in ''The Times'', Brodie returned to England with his wife and daughter around 1870. His daughter Josephine married George Daniel Moore at Holy Trinity,

Paddington Paddington is an area in the City of Westminster, in central London, England. A medieval parish then a metropolitan borough of the County of London, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Paddington station, designed b ...

, on 1 July 1870. Brodie visited Auckland again in December 1878. He died in England on 11 September 1884.

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brodie, Walter 1811 births 1884 deaths Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives Members of the Auckland Provincial Council New Zealand MPs for Auckland electorates People from Eastbourne British emigrants to New Zealand