John Perry Robinson

John Perry Robinson
John Perry Robinson
2nd Superintendent of Nelson Province
In office 1856 – 28 January 1865
Personal details
Born	1810/11? Surrey, England
Died	28 January 1865 (aged 53–55) Buller River bar, New Zealand
Spouse(s)	Mary Gaskell (married 1836), ten children
Profession	Woodturner, storekeeper, politician

John Perry Robinson (1810/11? – 28 January 1865) was the second Superintendent of the Nelson Province in New Zealand. His election came as a surprise, but he proved so popular that he won two subsequent elections with comfortable majorities. He remained Superintendent until his accidental drowning on the bar of the Buller River.

Robinson is believed to have been born in Surrey, England. His year of birth is uncertain (either 1810 or 1811). He married Mary Gaskell on 22 October 1836 at Derby. They had two children (Eliza (b. 1838) and Samuel (b. 1840) when they decided to emigrate to New Zealand. They arrived in Nelson on the Phoebe on 29 March 1843.

The economic situation in Nelson in the early 1840s was difficult. The New Zealand Company had not managed to attract a sufficient number of landowners to the area and ended up being the major employer themselves. This led to a shortage of employment positions, and the pay was considered inadequate.

In April 1844, Robinson was appointed headmaster of a school in Bridge Street. The following year, he moved to the Bay of Islands to run an agency for the brewery Hooper and Company. That business failed and he moved to Auckland, but was back in Nelson by 1848. He was employed as a storekeeper before working in his original trade of woodturning again. In 1855, he went to Motupipi in Golden Bay (then known as Massacre Bay) to establish a sawmill with three partners.

In April 1850, Robinson chaired a meeting of labourers, when it was decided to approach the New Zealand Company for its unfulfilled promises. The issues were lack of work and difficult working conditions. He followed this up in 1852 with a letter to Governor George Grey, and in 1854 brought the issue to the attention of the Government.

While living in Golden Bay, Robinson was urged to stand for election to the Nelson Provincial Council in 1855 as the representative in the Massacre Bay electorate. At the nomination meeting, the election was contested by Robinson and W. R. Nicholson. A show of hands indicated a majority for Robinson, who was thus declared duly elected.