Henry Dodson Explained

Henry Dodson
Order:2nd
Office:Mayor of Blenheim
Term Start:1870
Term End:1871
Predecessor:Frederick John Litchfield
Successor:George Henderson
Term Start2:1883
Term End2:1884
Predecessor2:Frederick Thomas Farmar
Successor2:George Henderson
Birth Date:1828 4, df=y
Birth Place:near Malmesbury, Wiltshire, England
Death Place:Blenheim, New Zealand
Restingplace:Omaka Cemetery
Relations:Joseph Dodson (brother)

Henry Dodson (21 April 1828 – 8 May 1892) was a brewer and a 19th-century Member of Parliament from Marlborough, New Zealand.

Biography

Dodson was born in 1828 near Malmesbury in Wiltshire, England. His father, Joseph Dodson, was an officer in the British Army. His mother was Isabella Dodson (née Reid).[1] Joseph Dodson was an older brother.[2]

As a youth, he emigrated to Halifax in Nova Scotia, Canada, to join a brother. Together, they went to Victoria, Australia and joined the Victorian gold rush. After that, he came to Nelson, New Zealand and joined his brother Joseph Dodson in his brewery business.[3] He married Emma Snow (born 6 January 1830) on 10 December 1857 at Nelson.[4] He came to Blenheim in the late 1850s and set up a brewery in that town.

Dodson was a member of the Marlborough Provincial Council for three different electorates from 1860–1863, 1866–1870, and 1874–1875. In the provincial council, he was the head of the Blenheim party for many years, and they quarrelled against the Picton party. He was Mayor of Blenheim for four one-year terms (1870–1871 and 1883–1884). He represented the Wairau electorate from to 1890, when he retired.[5] In, he beat the incumbent, Arthur Seymour.[6] He was challenged by Joseph Ward in .[7] In the, he was challenged by a former Mayor of Blenheim, George Henderson, and Sutherland John Macalister.[8] [9]

His wife died in June 1883.[10] He died on 8 May 1892 at his home in Blenheim, New Zealand after a sudden illness and was survived by seven children. He was buried at the Omaka Cemetery in his brother George's family plot in the Old Cemetery section.[11] [12]

Notes and References

  1. Book: Scholefield . Guy . Guy Scholefield . A Dictionary of New Zealand Biography : A–L . I . 1940 . . Wellington . 21 October 2015 . 213 . 9 March 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120309082939/http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/files/documents/dnzb-1940/scholefield-dnzb-v1.pdf . dead .
  2. Web site: Stephens . Joy . Henry and George Dodson . The Prow . 14 November 2022.
  3. News: Obituary . 26 February 2013 . . XXVIII . 109 . 9 May 1892 . 3.
  4. News: Married . 21 October 2015 . Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle . XVI . 12 December 1857 . 2.
  5. Book: Wilson, James Oakley . New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 . 4th . First ed. published 1913 . 1985 . V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer . Wellington . 154283103 . 193.
  6. Book: G. S. . Cooper . Votes Recorded for Each Candidate . 1882 . Government Printer . 2 . 21 October 2015.
  7. Book: G. S. . Cooper . The General Election, 1884 . 1884 . . 2 . 21 October 2015.
  8. Book: The Cyclopedia of New Zealand : Nelson, Marlborough & Westland Provincial Districts . 1906 . Cyclopedia Company Limited . 22 November 2013 . Christchurch . Mr. Sutherland John Maclister[sic].
  9. Book: G. S. . Cooper . The General Election, 1887 . 1887 . . 2 . 21 October 2015.
  10. News: The Marlborough Express. 21 October 2015 . XIX . 141 . 30 June 1883 . 2.
  11. Web site: Cemetery Records Search - Marlborough District Council. Marlborough.govt.nz. 26 October 2021.
  12. News: The Marlborough Express. XXVIII. 109. 9 May 1892. 2. Paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 26 October 2021.