Joseph McMullen Dargaville

Joseph McMullen Dargaville (1882)

Joseph McMullen Dargaville (born June 1837 in Cork , County Cork , Ireland , † October 27, 1896 on board the ship Mariposa on the return voyage from England to New Zealand ) was an Australian banker and later a New Zealand businessman and politician.

Early life

Joseph McMullen Dargaville was born in June 1837 to Eliza McMullen and her husband Anderson Dargaville , a doctor, in Cork , Ireland. He was baptized on June 27, 1837. His father's ancestors were Huguenots who had fled to Ireland. In Cork , Dargaville attended Fermoy College, known for its liberal attitude .

Australia

As a young man, Dargaville emigrated with his brother to Victoria , Australia and in February 1859 to Sydney , where he began a career as a bank clerk with the Union Bank of Australia . From 1860 to 1866 the bank worked in various branches in New South Wales , Tasmania and Victoria , where he was recognized for his work.

New Zealand

In July 1867, the bank sent him to New Zealand as an inspector on the West Coast . Possibly his experience gained during the gold rush in Victoria was the reason why he was chosen for the position, because at the latest from the gold rush in Otago , the search for gold was an issue throughout New Zealand.

He reached Hokitika in August 1867 and was sent to Auckland a year later as a bank manager , but when he was later to go to Nelson , he resigned in July 1869 and then worked as a representative for a Melbourne company in Auckland , but left a short time later self-employed as a wholesale merchant.

In 1871 Dargaville visited the northern part of the Wairoa River to the north of Kaipara Harbor and realized that the wood and resin of the Kauri trees in the area could do good business. He rented four acres of land from the Parore Te Awha , the local Māori on site, and developed the business with the wood, appointed a manager on site at the end of 1871 and employed over 400 men in his company by 1876.

In 1872 he bought the Māori 171  acres of land in the area where the Kaihu River flows into the Wairoa River and founded the city of Dargaville there . He had buildings built at his expense that could be used as shops or stores and created a pier in the river for trading goods by ship. In 1876 he sold a large part of his timber business and invested the money in more land and the city. He rented land and buildings and thus created a secure income. In order to have greater economic advantage from its businesses, Dargaville set up the Dargaville Trust and let it manage its business.

Dargaville had already been elected to the Auckland City Council (City Council) in 1972 and thus increased his interest in politics. He was a member of the council until 1874 and was elected in 1873 for Auckland East in the Auckland Provincial Council , of which he was a member until 1876. The election of superintendent of the Auckland Provincial Council, he was twice defeated by his competitors. From 1876 to 1890 Dargaville was a member of the Hobson County Council and was elected as a non-party in 1881 for Auckland West in the House of Representatives . There he was reprimanded on July 31, 1883 for speaking against Prime Minister Frederick Whitaker and his Colonial Treasurer (Treasurer) Harry Albert Atkinson , who he accused of corruption. In July 1887, Dargaville resigned from parliament and was unable to win three consecutive elections.

Dargaville has also served on the Auckland Harbor Board , the Auckland Education Board , the Auckland College and Grammar School Board and was appointed Justice of the Peace . He founded the Masonic Lodge of St George in 1878 and was Grand Master of the Orange Lodge of New Zealand .

Dargaville died on October 27, 1896 on the way back from England to New Zealand on board the ship Mariposa . His wife, who was engaged in philanthropic activities, died on July 5, 1915

family

On April 20, 1865 he married in Portland in the state of Victoria Anne Must, with whom he had six children.

literature

• Janice C. Mogford : Dargaville, Joseph McMullen . In: GH Scholefield (Ed.): Dictionary of New Zealand Biography . Volume 2 , 1993 (English, online [accessed February 3, 2017]).