William Baldwin (New Zealand politician)

William Baldwin
Born	John Baldwin 1836
Died	30 July 1917 (aged 82) Perth, Western Australia
Occupation	Member of Parliament, editor, accountant
Home town	Dunedin, Otago region, New Zealand
Relatives	Andrew Buchanan (father-in-law)

William Baldwin, born John Baldwin (1836 – 30 July 1917) was a 19th-century Member of Parliament in the Otago region of New Zealand.

Baldwin was born in late 1836, and baptised on 7 January 1837. He was born John Baldwin, the son of Henry Baldwin of Bandon, County Cork, Ireland, and later changed his given name to William. He served in the 19th Regiment and saw action in the Indian Rebellion of 1857.

Baldwin settled in Otago, New Zealand in 1860, where he purchased a sheep run at Teviot. Together with Gabriel Read, he was one of the discoverers of gold at Waitahuna. On 4 August 1863 at St Paul's Church in Dunedin, he married Janet Curling Buchanan, the daughter of Andrew Buchanan, who was a at Patearoa.

Following the death of Charles Kettle, a representative of the Bruce electorate, on 5 June 1862, Baldwin was a candidate in the resulting by-election, but was beaten by Edward Cargill. Baldwin was a proponent of the separation of the South Island from the North Island.

Baldwin represented the Gold Fields electorate in the New Zealand House of Representatives from 14 April 1863 to 27 April 1865, when he resigned. On 20 June 1863, he was elected in the Gold Fields electorate of the Otago Provincial Council, which he represented until 20 September 1864. From September 1863 to April 1864, he served on the Executive Council of the province. He then represented the Manuherikia electorate in the House of Representatives from 1866 to 1867, when he resigned because he became insolvent. In 1881, Baldwin was a parliamentary candidate for the Dunedin East electorate, but he withdrew before nomination day as he urgently needed to travel to England, but he delayed travel until February 1882.

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