Gerard George Fitzgerald

Gerard George Fitzgerald
Gerard George Fitzgerald in 1882
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Hokitika
In office 9 December 1881 – 27 June 1884
Preceded by	Robert Reid Richard Seddon
Succeeded by	John Bevan
Personal details
Born	10 October 1832 Bath, Somerset, England
Died	7 June 1904(1904-06-07) (aged 71) Timaru Hospital, New Zealand
Relations	James FitzGerald (brother) Richard Fitzgerald (grandfather) Sir John Gibbons, 2nd Baronet (grandfather)
Profession	Journalist, magistrate

Gerard George Fitzgerald (10 October 1832 – 7 June 1904) was a 19th-century member of parliament in New Zealand. Like his brother James FitzGerald, he was a journalist of considerable ability, and co-founded The Southland Times in 1862. For the last 19 years of his life, he was editor of The Timaru Herald.

Fitzgerald was born in Bath, Somerset, England on 10 October 1832 and baptised on 6 January 1834 in Walcot, Bath. His father was Gerard Fitzgerald and his mother was Emily Fitzgerald (née Gibbons), the third wife of his father. His paternal grandfather, Richard Fitzgerald, was a member of the Irish House of Commons. His maternal grandfather, Sir John Gibbons, 2nd Baronet, was a member of the British House of Commons. An older half-brother, James FitzGerald (1818–1896), was from his father's second wife. He received his education at the grammar school in Bath. He arrived in Lyttelton on the Castle Eden on 14 February 1851, but left soon after for the Victorian gold rush. In Victoria, he bought and drove cattle to the gold fields, did some prospecting for gold, and acted as gold buyer for Melbourne-based banks.

He returned to New Zealand in the early 1860s. On the suggestion of his brother, James FitzGerald, who had himself just established The Press in Christchurch, he established a telegraph news agency for New Zealand. In 1862, he was one of the founders of The Southland Times. FitzGerald gave up the proprietorship and joined the Otago Gold Rush, where he met again with George Sale, whom he knew from Victoria. When Sale was appointed Goldfields Commissioner for the gold fields on the West Coast, he offered Fitzgerald the second administrative role on the West Coast in 1867. Fitzgerald accepted and became magistrate, sheriff, warden and commissioner of crown lands, based in Hokitika. In January 1868, he was appointed Registration and Returning Officer. He was the returning officer for elections to Westland County in February 1868, November 1868, July 1870, December 1870, May 1871, and December 1872. He was then returning officer for the elections to Westland Province in January 1874. He also acted as returning officer for elections to the House of Representatives, with the first a by-election in the Westland Boroughs electorate in April 1868, followed by a parliamentary election in the Hokitika and Totara electorates in January and February 1871, and for the same two electorates in January 1876, and for a by-election in the Totara electorate in April 1877.