*** Welcome to piglix ***

Thomas Henry Fitzgerald

The Hon
Thomas Fitzgerald
Thomas Henry Fitzgerald, 1860.jpg
1st Superintendent of Hawke's Bay Province
In office
23 April 1859 – March 1861
Succeeded by John Chilton Lambton Carter
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for County of Hawke
In office
26 April 1860 – 5 November 1860
7th Treasurer of Queensland
In office
25 November 1868 – 27 January 1869
Preceded by Robert Mackenzie
Succeeded by Thomas Blacket Stephens
Constituency Kennedy
Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly
for Rockhampton
In office
27 June 1867 – 11 July 1867
Preceded by Charles Fitzsimmons
Succeeded by Archibald Archer
Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly
for Kennedy
In office
19 July 1867 – 11 June 1869
Preceded by George Elphinstone Dalrymple
Succeeded by John Bright
Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly
for Bowen
In office
4 November 1873 – 5 May 1875
Preceded by New seat
Succeeded by Francis Amhurst
Personal details
Born Thomas Henry Fitzgerald
(1824-12-01)1 December 1824
Carrickmacross, County Monaghan, Ireland
Died 10 November 1888(1888-11-10) (aged 63)
Teneriffe, Queensland
Resting place Nudgee Cemetery
Nationality Irish
Spouse(s) Jessie Wilson
Relations Charles Borromeo Fitzgerald (son)
Paddy Fitzgerald (grandson)
Occupation Public Servant, Sugarcane Farmer Surveyor

Thomas Henry Fitzgerald (1 December 1824 – 10 November 1888) was a pioneer in sugar cane farming in the early days of the colony of Queensland, Australia. He was a politician, first in New Zealand, then in Queensland. His descendants went on to become notable names in Queensland politics, business and law. He will be best remembered for founding the town of Innisfail.

Over a varied and interesting life, Fitzgerald was a surveyor, sugar cane farmer, Superintendent, Colonial Treasurer and pioneer.

Thomas Henry Fitzgerald was born in Carrickmacross, County Monaghan, Ireland in December 1824. Fitzgerald qualified as an engineer, but like many of his compatriots of the time, he left Ireland to seek fortune elsewhere (see Irish diaspora).

Fitzgerald and one of his sisters went to New Zealand in 1842 on the George Fyfe, following their brother John, who was a medical doctor. There, he trained and worked as a surveyor and achieved additional qualifications as an engineer and architect. In 1844, he purchased 16 acres (6.5 ha) in Khandallah, now a suburb of Wellington. On 2 July 1851, he married Jessie Wilson at Wellington, the oldest daughter of James Wilson of that city.

Fitzgerald designed St Joseph's Providence, a Catholic charity school for Māori girls on the grounds of the new St Mary's College in the Wellington suburb of Thorndon. The building had two storeys, 18 bedrooms, and was opened in September 1852. The building was demolished in the 1970s, and only a porch from an 1869 extension remains, which is registered by Heritage New Zealand as a Category II heritage item.

In 1853, the Fitzgeralds moved to the Hawke's Bay Region, where he surveyed the area. He had two general stores, one of them in Napier's Waghorne Street, and he built a steam flour mill in that town. Other business activities were him acting as an agent for a shipping company, for an insurance company, and buying wool.


...
Wikipedia

...