Charles Heaphy
| Charles Heaphy | |
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| Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Parnell |
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In office 5 June 1867 – 13 April 1870 |
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| Majority | Unopposed |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1820 London, England |
| Died | 3 August 1881 (aged 60-61) Brisbane, Australia |
| Resting place | Toowong Cemetery, Brisbane, Australia |
| Parents | Thomas Heaphy |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | New Zealand |
| Years of service | 1859–67 |
| Rank | Major |
| Unit | Auckland Volunteer Rifles |
| Battles/wars | |
| Awards | Victoria Cross |
Charles Heaphy VC (1820 – 3 August 1881) was an English-born New Zealand explorer and recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest military award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. He was the first soldier of the New Zealand armed forces to be awarded the VC. He was also a noted artist and executed several works of early colonial life in New Zealand.
Born in England, Heaphy joined the New Zealand Company in 1839. He arrived in New Zealand later that year and was commissioned to create art for advertising the country to potential English migrants. Much of the next two and half years was spent travelling and executing paintings of landscapes and life around the centre of the country. When his contract with the company ended in 1842, he lived in Nelson for several years and explored large parts of the West Coast. He later moved north to Auckland to take up employment as a surveyor.
During the Invasion of the Waikato, his militia unit was mobilised and it was his conduct at Paterangi, where he rescued British soldiers under fire, that saw him awarded the VC. He was the first recipient of the VC to be a non-regular soldier. After his military service ended, Heaphy served a term as Member of Parliament for Parnell. From 1870 to 1881, he held a variety of civil service positions but his health declined and he moved to Queensland, in Australia, seeking a better climate in which to recover. He died a few months after his arrival.
Charles Heaphy was born sometime in 1820 in London, England. He was the youngest child of Thomas Heaphy, who was a professional painter and three of his siblings also became noted painters. His grandfather John Gerrard Heaphy was a merchant from Ireland. The family lived in St John's Wood in north-west London and enjoyed a comfortable, middle-class existence although his mother died sometime during his early childhood. Thomas earned painting commissions from high society and in 1812 accompanied Arthur Wellesley, who was later to become the Duke of Wellington, as staff artist during the Peninsular War. Thomas died in 1835 and left the entire estate to his second wife, who he had married in 1833. Charles, who had obtained work as a draughtsman at the London & Birmingham Railway Company, moved out of the family home soon after. As a child, Charles was taught to paint by his father and in December 1837, sponsored by a family friend, he entered the Royal Academy school of painting. He was the only child of the Heaphy family to receive this level of education.
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