James Busby
| James Busby | |
|---|---|
 |
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| British Resident of New Zealand | |
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In office March 1831 – 28 January 1840 |
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| Preceded by | Office established |
| Succeeded by | Office discontinued |
| Bay of Islands councillor | |
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In office 1853–1855 |
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| Bay of Islands councillor | |
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In office 1857–1863 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
7 February 1802 Scotland |
| Died | 15 July 1871 (aged 70) Anerley, London, UK |
| Spouse(s) | Agnes Busby born Dow (m. 1832, d. 1889) |
James Busby (7 February 1802 – 15 July 1871) is widely regarded as the "father" of the Australian wine industry, as he took the first collection of vine stock from Spain and France to Australia. Later he became a British Resident who travelled to New Zealand, involved in the drafting of the Declaration of the Independence of New Zealand and the Treaty of Waitangi. As British Resident, he acted as New Zealand's first jurist, and the 'originator of law in Aotearoa', to whom New Zealand owes almost all of its underlying jurisprudence'.
He was born in Scotland, the son of English engineer John Busby and mother Sarah Kennedy. His family emigrated from Britain to New South Wales in 1824.
On his arrival in Sydney, Busby was appointed a teacher of viticulture at the Male Orphans School at Bald Hills near Liverpool. The school closed in 1850. Busby served out his contract and taught the stipulated two hundred days at the Male Orphans' Farm. Busby then received a Grant of Land from the Governor and after much careful deliberation he chose a block in the Coal River area of the Hunter Region.
In 1828 Busby returned to England, before visiting Spain and France to further his study in viticulture. Busby returned to Australia in 1828.
Busby married Agnes Dow at Segenhoe, in the Hunter Region, New South Wales on 1 November 1832. In March 1833, he was appointed to the position of British Resident of New Zealand and went to the Bay of Islands in May that year, taking with him some of the vine stock he had collected in Europe. Agnes followed him, arriving in July.
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