John Howell (pioneer)

John Howell
Personal details
Born1809
Eastbourne, Sussex, England
Died (aged 64)
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Resting placeRiverton Cemetery, Southland, New Zealand
Spouse(s)1. Kohikohi
2.
Caroline Brown
​
(m. 1846)​
Children19
RelativesThomas Ellison (son-in-law)
Selwyn Toogood (great-grandson)
Ulva Belsham (great-great granddaughter)
Marilyn Pryor (great-great-great granddaughter)
Theophilus Daniel (brother-in-law)[1]
Occupation
  • Pastoralist
  • politician
  • settler
  • trader
  • whaler
Known forFounding Riverton

John Howell (1809 – 25 May 1874[2]) was a New Zealand whaler, trader, pastoralist and politician.

Howell was born in 1809.[3] He settled in New Zealand, and established the settlement that is today known as Riverton.[4] He was a member of the Southland Provincial Council from 1862 to 1864 for the Riverton electorate, and from 1864 to 1867 for the Aparima electorate.[5]

Howell's Cottage, which was built for him at Riverton in 1837/38, is the oldest building in Riverton. It is one of very few surviving New Zealand buildings that predates the 1840s, and is listed as a Category I building by Heritage New Zealand.[6]

  1. ^ "Daniel House". New Zealand Heritage List/Rārangi Kōrero. Heritage New Zealand. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
  2. ^ "John Howell Cemetery Search Results". Southland District Council. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
  3. ^ Birth year as per the biography on the information board in Howell's Memorial Park, Riverton
  4. ^ Wilson, Eva. "John Howell". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  5. ^ Scholefield, Guy (1950) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1949 (3rd ed.). Wellington: Govt. Printer. p. 227.
  6. ^ "Howell's Cottage". New Zealand Heritage List/Rārangi Kōrero. Heritage New Zealand. Retrieved 27 December 2018.