James Wallis (New Zealand politician)

James Wallis (1825 – 25 May 1912) was a 19th-century Member of Parliament from Auckland, New Zealand.

Wallis was born in Aberdeenshire in 1825. He received his education at the University of Aberdeen, from where he graduated with a Master of Arts in 1844. He was a minister of the Presbyterian Church, and ministered in Scotland at Dundee and Aberdeen, and in British Guiana in Essequibo and Demerara. He went back for further study to become a medical missionary, and in 1863 was admitted as a member to the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. He travelled to New Zealand in 1865 via Africa and Australia.[1]

In 1868, Wallis married Elizabeth Poole; she was the daughter of a physician from Edinburgh.[1]

Wallis represented the Auckland West electorate from 1877 to 1881, when he was defeated.[2] He contested the 1890 election in the City of Auckland electorate. Of seven candidates, he came second to last.[3][4] Wallis was a strong supporter of women's suffrage.[1]

His wife died many years before him. A resident of Grey Lynn, he died on 25 May 1912. He was buried beside his wife at Waikumete Cemetery.[1]