Arthur Collins (politician)

Arthur Shuckburgh Collins (31 December 1832 – 26 September 1911), later spelling his surname Collyns, was a 19th-century Member of Parliament from Nelson, New Zealand.

Arthur Collins in 1860

Early life and education

Collins was born on 31 December 1832 in Devon, son of William Wrangham Collins (1799–1880) and Henrietta (1799–1861), daughter of Reverend Charles Shuckburgh, of The Moot, Downton, Wiltshire.[1] He received a 'good education'.[2] The family emigrated to Nelson on the Pekin from London, arriving on 15 January 1850.[3] In his younger years, he excelled in sports.[2]

Career
New Zealand Parliament
Years Term Electorate Party
1868–1870 4th Collingwood Independent
1871–1873 5th Collingwood Independent
1881 7th Suburbs of Nelson Independent

Collins represented the Collingwood electorate from 1868 to 1873, when he resigned.[4] He was a Provincialist, but once elected, he changed his mind and became an ardent supporter of the abolition of the provinces.[2] He then represented the Suburbs of Nelson electorate in 1881 from 11 January to 8 November, when he retired.[4]

Personal life

On 29 September 1855, at Christchurch, Collins married Catherine Anne, daughter of Thomas Isaacson, of Brighton, East Sussex, and niece and adopted daughter of Reverend J. F. Isaacson, rector of Freshwater, Isle of Wight. They had three daughters: Henrietta, Adelaide, and Emily. Following Catherine's death, he married Erica Elspeth, daughter of James Mackay, of Drumduan, Nelson, New Zealand; they had five sons (the eldest being the teacher and cricketer John Ulric Collins) and five daughters.[5][6]

Erica Elspeth Collins, his second wife (ca 1876)

In the 1870s, he changed the spelling of his surname to Collyns. He lived at Hillwood, near Nelson, and at Mount Fyffe, at Kaikōura.[7]

Collyns died on 26 September 1911. He is buried, as are his wives, at Wakapuaka Cemetery.

References
  1. Armorial Families, third edition, A. C. Fox-Davies, T. C. & E. C. Jack, 1899, p. 188
  2. "Nelson Evening Mail. Friday, January 14, 1881". Nelson Evening Mail. XVI, Issue 12. 14 January 1881. p. 2. Retrieved 12 April 2012.
  3. "Passenger Lists" (PDF). Nelson City Council. p. 117. Retrieved 12 April 2012.
  4. Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. p. 189. OCLC 154283103.
  5. Armorial Families, third edition, A. C. Fox-Davies, T. C. & E. C. Jack, 1899, p. 188
  6. The Spectator, April 5, 1856 in collected vol. 29, F. C. Westley, 1856, p. 363, "Marriages"
  7. Armorial Families, third edition, A. C. Fox-Davies, T. C. & E. C. Jack, 1899, p. 188
New Zealand Parliament
Preceded by
Andrew Richmond		 Member of Parliament for Collingwood
1868–1873		 Succeeded by
William Gibbs
Member of Parliament for Suburbs of Nelson
1881		 Constituency abolished
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