Thomas Forsaith

Thomas Forsaith
Thomas Spencer Forsaith circa 1864
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Northern Division
In office 23 August 1853 – 15 September 1855
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for City of Auckland
In office 27 April 1858 – 5 November 1860
Personal details
Born	18 July 1814 London, Middlesex
Died	29 November 1898(1898-11-29) (aged 84) Parramatta
Spouse(s)	Elizabeth Forsaith (née Clements)
Relations	Tom Macdonald (great-grandson)
Children	Charlotte Forsaith

Thomas Spencer Forsaith, JP (18 July 1814 – 29 November 1898), was a New Zealand politician and an Auckland draper. According to some historians, he was the country's second Premier, although a more conventional view states that neither he nor his predecessor (James FitzGerald) should properly be given that title.

Forsaith was born in London, England on 18 July 1814 to Samuel Forsaith (1776–1832) and Elizabeth Forsaith née Emberson (1782–1844). His father was a linen draper and haberdasher. His parents belonged to the Congregational church.

His father's first marriage was to Elizabeth Smyth (1771 – 23 September 1809). They had five children:

Of those, Samuel emigrated to New Zealand, arriving in Auckland prior to May 1851. He died in Thames in 1894.

After his first wife's death in September 1809, Samuel Forsaith married Elizabeth née Emberson on 4 October 1810. They had nine children:

Apart from Thomas Spencer Forsaith, his sister Hephzibah also emigrated to New Zealand; in 1847 on theElora. All other siblings and his parents remained in England.

Thomas Forsaith became an apprentice as a silk merchant in Croydon, but he rather wanted to go to sea. As a cabin boy, he travelled on a collier to the River Tyne. He then made three journeys to the West Indies as a cadet officer for Charles Horsfall and Co. on the Huddersfield (named after Horsfall's birthplace). He returned home with a good reference, but found that his father had died in the meantime. As a fourth officer, he sailed on the convict ship Hoogley to Botany Bay in 1834. Two years later, he again sailed to Australia, this time on the Lord Goderich. He first came to New Zealand on the return journey, when Kauri spars were loaded in Hokianga.