Joseph Brittan
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Dr Joseph Brittan |
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Portrait of Joseph Brittan
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| Provincial Secretary of the Canterbury Provincial Council | |
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In office May 1855 – February 1857 |
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| Preceded by | John Hall |
| Succeeded by | Richard Packer |
| Canterbury Provincial Council | |
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In office March 1855 – July 1857 |
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| Majority | elected unopposed |
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In office August 1861 – September 1862 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born | 12 January 1805 Bristol, England |
| Died | 27 October 1867 (aged 62) Christchurch |
| Spouse(s) | Elizabeth Mary Brittan (née Chandler; d. 1849) Sophia Brittan (née Chandler; m. 1851, d. 1877) |
| Relations |
Guise Brittan (brother) William Rolleston (son in law) Frank Rolleston (grandson) John Rolleston (grandson) |
| Children | Mary Rolleston |
| Residence | Linwood House |
| Occupation | Surgeon, newspaper editor, farmer, politician |
| Profession | Surgeon |
| Religion | Anglican |
Dr. Joseph Brittan (12 January 1805 – 27 October 1867), a surgeon, newspaper editor, and provincial councillor, was one of the dominant figures in early Christchurch, New Zealand. Born into a middle-class family in southern England, he caused a scandal by marrying his deceased wife's sister. As was not unusual at the time, this was responded to by emigrating, and he followed his younger brother Guise Brittan to Christchurch, where he and his wife arrived in February 1852 with four children. Joseph Brittan soon got involved in the usual activities of early settlers and gained prominence in doing so. He had bought 100 acres on 10 July 1851 and took up 50 of this to the east of Christchurch that he converted to farmland. There, he built the family residence, and the suburb of Linwood was subsequently named after Brittan's farm and homestead of Linwood House.
The members of the Brittan family were devout Anglicans and had a close association with the neighbouring Holy Trinity Avonside, where Guise Brittan was a lay reader. William Rolleston became Joseph Brittan's son-in-law in 1865, when he married his only surviving daughter Mary; Rolleston was elected Canterbury's third Superintendent just months after Brittan's death.
Brittan was a member of the Canterbury Provincial Council for just over three years. He served as Provincial Secretary from 1855 to 1857 and was expected to succeed James FitzGerald as the second Superintendent of the Canterbury Province, but was beaten by William Sefton Moorhouse in October 1857. He established the third newspaper in Canterbury, the Canterbury Standard, which existed for 12 years until shortly before Brittan's death. Brittan was a very eloquent speaker, but he had a biting and sarcastic character, and was disliked, and even feared, by some. Later in life, he suffered from gout and frequent headaches, and this together with financial trouble, often made him irritable and impatient. He died at his homestead in October 1867 after a long period of declining health.
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Wikipedia