Westby_Perceval

Westby Perceval

Westby Perceval

New Zealand politician


Sir Westby Brook Perceval KCMG (11 May 1854 – 23 June 1928) was a New Zealand politician of the Liberal Party.

Quick Facts Sir Westby PercevalKCMG, 6th Chairman of Committees ...

Biography

Perceval was born in Launceston, Van Diemen's Land, in 1854. His mother was Sarah Brook (née Bailey) and his father was her husband, Westby Hawkshaw Percival, an Irish member of the mounted police in Melbourne. In the early 1860s, the family moved to Rangiora in New Zealand, a township 29 kilometres (18 mi) north of Christchurch. He received his early education at Merton's school, where he became friends with William Pember Reeves. In 1867 he won a junior Somes scholarship to Christ's College, Christchurch. At the age of 16, in May 1870, he was received into the Catholic church. He completed his secondary education at Stonyhurst College in England. In 1872, he inherited sufficient land upon his father's death that he had a secure income.[1]

Perceval was a lawyer in Christchurch.[1] He represented the Christchurch South electorate from the 1887 general election[2] to the end of the parliamentary term in 1890, and then the City of Christchurch electorate from the 1890 general election to September 1891, when he resigned.[3][4] For the last three months in Parliament, he was Chairman of Committees.[5]

He was made Agent-General to the United Kingdom from 1891[3] to 1896, and then Agent-General for Tasmania from 1896 to 1898.

Perceval was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) in the 1894 New Year Honours.[6] He died in Surrey, England, in 1928 and is buried at Gap Road Cemetery.[4]

Family

Perceval married Jessie Johnston, daughter of John Johnston, in 1880.[1] They had three sons:[1][7]

  • Francis Westby Perceval (born 1882), barrister. He married in 1912 Dorothy Anne Cecilia Thornton.
  • Alan John Westby Perceval (born 1884), clergyman.[8]
  • Major-General Christopher Peter Westby Perceval (born 1890), Royal Artillery.[9]

Notes

  1. Rice, Geoffrey W. "Perceval, Westby Brook". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 13 January 2012.
  2. "Christchurch South". The Star. No. 6043. 27 September 1887. p. 4. Retrieved 5 November 2011.
  3. "The Agent-General". The Star. No. 7270. 16 September 1891. p. 3. Retrieved 14 March 2010.
  4. Wilson 1985, p. 226.
  5. Wilson 1985, p. 251.
  6. "No. 26472". The London Gazette. 2 January 1894. p. 2.
  7. Fox-Davies, Arthur Charles (1929–30). Armorial Families. Vol. 2 (7th ed.). London: Hurst & Blackett. p. 1537.
  8. Matriculation register of Lincoln College, Oxford, accessed via archive website 24 July 2023.

References

  • Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.
  • Scholefield, Guy; Schwabe, Emil, eds. (1908). Who's who in New Zealand and the western Pacific (1st ed.). Wellington: Gordon & Gotch.
  • "Agent-General (1897 article)". NZETC. 5 July 2014.

Media related to Westby Brook Perceval at Wikimedia Commons

More information Political offices, New Zealand Parliament ...

Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Westby_Perceval, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.