James O'Neill (New Zealand politician)

The Honourable James O'Neill (1819–1882) was born in Manorhamilton, County Leitrim, Ireland.^[1] In Ireland, he trained as an apothecary but then emigrated to New Zealand, arriving in 1840. There, he became a significant 19th century politician.

Parliament of New Zealand
Years	Term	Electorate		Party
1853–1855	1st	City of Auckland		Independent
1861–1866	3rd	Northern Division		Independent
1866–1869	4th	Northern Division		Independent

O'Neill served as a member of the New Zealand House of Representatives in the 1st Parliament, the 3rd Parliament and the 4th Parliament. He represented two different Auckland seats. First, he was the member for the City of Auckland from 1853 until he was defeated in 1855. He then represented the Northern Division (the area between Auckland and Whangarei) from 1861 to 1869.^[2]

In 1862, O'Neill and his oldest child Mary O'Neill were passengers on the SS White Swan together with the prime minister and several other senior members of the New Zealand government. The ship was holed by a rock while steaming from Napier to Wellington and began sinking. Captain Allen Harper deliberately ran the ship aground and thereby saved the lives of all those on board.^[3]

O'Neill resigned his House of Representatives seat in 1869 and was appointed a member of the New Zealand Legislative Council, the Upper House of the New Zealand Parliament.^[4] He resigned his Legislative Council seat in 1872 and returned to the British Isles where he died at Southsea, England in 1882 aged 65.

In addition to serving in both houses of the New Zealand Parliament, O'Neill was also a founding director of the Bank of New Zealand,^[5] a member of the Auckland Provincial Council and a justice of the peace.

References

1. The Cyclopedia Company (1902) ‘The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Auckland Provincial District]’ Christchurch, New Zealand, The Cyclopedia Company Ltd p 95 at http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/tei-Cyc02Cycl-t1-body1-d1-d8-d13.html Retrieved 2010-08-02.
2. Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First published in 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. pp. 160, 220. OCLC 154283103.
3. Warman, M. (2002) 'The White Swan Incident: The shipwreck that could have sunk a government', Masterton, New Zealand, Wairarapa Archive p 58.
4. The Cyclopedia Company (1902), op. cit., p 95.
5. The Cyclopedia Company (1897) ‘The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Wellington Provincial District]’ Christchurch, New Zealand, The Cyclopedia Company Ltd p 507 at http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/tei-Cyc01Cycl-t1-body-d4-d28-d12.html Retrieved 2010-08-02.