William Cargill
Encyclopedia
William Walter Cargill was the founder of the Otago
Otago
Otago is a region of New Zealand in the south of the South Island. The region covers an area of approximately making it the country's second largest region. The population of Otago is...

 settlement in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

, after serving as an officer in the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...

. He was a Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 and Otago's first Superintendent
Superintendent (politics)
Superintendent was the elected head of each Provincial Council in New Zealand from 1853 to 1876.-Historical context:Provinces existed in New Zealand from 1841 until 1876 as a form of sub-national government. After the initial provinces pre-1853, new provinces were formed by the New Zealand...

.

Early life

Cargill was born in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

, in 1784. His parents were James Cargill and Marrion Jamieson. His father died of alcoholism when he was 15. He joined the British Army in 1802 and served with distinction in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

, and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

. In 1813, he married Mary Ann Yates, who bore him seventeen children. Of these, two of his five sons became notable in public life: John, who followed in his fathers footsteps and became a politician, and Edward
Edward Cargill
Edward Bowes Cargill was a 19th century businessman and Member of Parliament in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand. He was the Mayor of Dunedin from 1897 to 1898, when the 50th anniversary of the founding of the province of Otago was celebrated....

, a prominent businessman and politician. Family circumstances forced him to sell his commission in 1820, though he was later referred to as "Captain Cargill". After leaving the army, he became a wine merchant in Scotland.

On 24 November 1847, Cargill sailed for New Zealand on the ship John Wickliffe
John Wickliffe (ship)
John Wickliffe was the first ship to arrive carrying Scottish settlers, including Otago settlement founder Captain William Cargill, in the city of Dunedin, New Zealand...

, arriving at what is now Port Chalmers
Port Chalmers
Port Chalmers is a suburb and the main port of the city of Dunedin, New Zealand, with a population of 3,000. Port Chalmers lies ten kilometres inside Otago Harbour, some 15 kilometres northeast from Dunedin's city centre....

, Otago on 23 March 1848.

Political career

The Constitution Act 1852 granted the settler population self-government, and in 1853 Cargill was elected Superintendent
Superintendent (politics)
Superintendent was the elected head of each Provincial Council in New Zealand from 1853 to 1876.-Historical context:Provinces existed in New Zealand from 1841 until 1876 as a form of sub-national government. After the initial provinces pre-1853, new provinces were formed by the New Zealand...

 of the Otago Province
Otago Province
The Otago Province was a province of New Zealand until the abolition of provincial government in 1876.-Area:The capital of the province was Dunedin...

. Cargill also served as a Member of Parliament for Dunedin Country
Dunedin Country
Dunedin Country was a parliamentary electorate in the rural area surrounding the city of Dunedin in Otago, New Zealand, from 1853 to 1860. It was a two-member electorate.-Members:The electorate was represented by five Members of Parliament....

. He was elected unopposed on 11 December 1855. He served the multi-member electorate alongside his son John. He announced his resignation from public office in October 1859. He was described as a rabid provincialist.

Death and legacy

He died of a stroke on 6 August 1860, at his home "Hillside" in Dunedin, and is buried in Dunedin Southern Cemetery
Dunedin Southern Cemetery
The Southern Cemetery in the New Zealand city of Dunedin was the first major cemetery to be opened in the city. The cemetery was opened in 1858, ten years after the founding of the city in an area known as "Little Paisley"...

 with his wife and three children.

Numerous names have connections with Cargill. The city of Invercargill
Invercargill
Invercargill is the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand, and one of the southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland region. It lies in the heart of the wide expanse of the Southland Plains on the Oreti or New River some 18 km north of Bluff,...

 is named for him (Inver coming from the Scots Gaelic word inbhir meaning a river's mouth), as is Mount Cargill
Mount Cargill
Mount Cargill is a 680 metre high volcanic outcrop which dominates the skyline of northern Dunedin, New Zealand. It is situated some 15 kilometres north of the city centre....

, which towers above northern Dunedin. "Cargill's Corner" is a major road intersection in South Dunedin
South Dunedin
South Dunedin is a major inner city suburb of the New Zealand city of Dunedin. It is located, as its name suggests, to the south of the city centre, on part of a large plain known locally simply as "The Flat". The suburb is a mix of industrial, retail, and predominantly lower-quality residential...

, and one of the roads which crosses at it is Hillside Road, named for Cargill's house. A Tasmanian sandstone monument to Cargill was built in Dunedin in 1864.

Cargill's Castle
Cargill's Castle
The ruins of Cargill's Castle stand on a promontory overlooking the Pacific Ocean in New Zealand's southern city of Dunedin. It is one of only four castles in New Zealand, the others being nearby Larnach Castle, Firth's Castle in Mt Eden, Auckland and Merkleworth in Takapuna, Auckland...

, a ruined stately home above St Clair is not named for William Cargill, but for his son Edward
Edward Cargill
Edward Bowes Cargill was a 19th century businessman and Member of Parliament in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand. He was the Mayor of Dunedin from 1897 to 1898, when the 50th anniversary of the founding of the province of Otago was celebrated....

.

External links

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