Andrew_Graham_(politician)
Andrew Graham (politician)
New Zealand politician
Andrew Graham (1843 – 17 April 1926) was a 19th-century Member of Parliament from the Gisborne Region of New Zealand.
He represented the East Coast electorate from 1887 to 1889, when he resigned,[1] shortly before his bankruptcy, which he ascribed to mismanagement of his business, whilst he was on a trip to Scotland,[2]
He was born at East Kilbride in Scotland on 28 July 1843 to John and Elizabeth Graham.[3] His education was at Glasgow High School and Glasgow University.[4]
In 1864 he emigrated to Napier, where he worked for a merchant. In 1868 he joined the Poverty Bay volunteers to fight against Te Kooti.[5] In 1873 he married Elizabeth Williams.[4] From 1873[6] he was a merchant in the firm of Kinross and Graham at Gisborne.[7] His businesses were hit by the 1878 City of Glasgow Bank collapse,[6] as was the Poverty Bay Herald,[8] of which he was a director. He was the first chairman of Gisborne Harbour Board, chairman of Gisborne Hospital Board and Cook County Council[6] and session clerk at St Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Gisborne, where he was buried.[9]
His children were Mrs. Todd (Wellington), Mrs. Dobson (Kaiti), Mrs. Burnett; (Whanganui), J. C. Graham (Waimata), A. D. Graham (Ruakituri), P. H. Graham (Wellington), William Graham (Wharekahika), Stanley Graham (Detroit), Malcolm Graham (Tolaga Bay), and J. G. Graham (Gisborne).[4]