William Postlethwaite

The Honourable
William Postlethwaite
Member of Parliament for Geraldine
In office
1881–1884
Preceded byEdward Wakefield
Succeeded byWilliam Rolleston
Personal details
Born17 September 1829
Broughton, Lancashire, England
Died9 April 1908(1908-04-09) (aged 78)
Bootle, Cumberland, England
Spouse
Annie Camilla Brisco
​
​
(m. 1859)​
ProfessionFarmer

William Postlethwaite JP DL (17 September 1829 – 9 April 1908) was an English-born Member of Parliament representing the Canterbury region of New Zealand.

Postlethwaite was born in Broughton, Lancashire, the son of Robert and Agnes Postlethwaite. He was tutored by Branwell Brontë, brother to the Brontë sisters. He married Annie Camilla Brisco, daughter of Sir Robert Brisco, 3rd Baronet, in 1859.[1] He succeeded to his uncle's Oaks estate in Millom, Cumberland, but in an unusual move for landed gentry, moved to New Zealand in 1878.[2]

New Zealand Parliament
Years Term Electorate Party
1881–1884 8th Geraldine Independent

Postlethwaite represented the Geraldine electorate from 1881 to 1884, when he retired.[3] He was an independent politician.[4]

He then moved to California in 1891, living as a farmer in Lindsay,[5] but returned to England, where he died in 1908.[1]

  1. ^ a b Burke, Sir Bernard, ed. (1939). Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knighthood (97th ed.). Burke's Peerage & Gentry.
  2. ^ Alexander, Christine; Smith, Margaret (2018). The Oxford Companion to the Brontës: Anniversary edition. Oxford University Press. p. 604. ISBN 9780192551719. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
  3. ^ Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. p. 227. OCLC 154283103.
  4. ^ Wilson erroneously classed him as a Reform Party Member of Parliament, although he was an MP in the 1880s before political parties had developed in New Zealand, and the Reform Party was established only after Postlethwaite's death.
  5. ^ 1900 United States Federal Census