Charles Johnston (New Zealand politician)

Sir Charles John Johnston (11 October 1845 – 13 June 1918) was a New Zealand merchant and politician. He was the Mayor of Wellington in 1890, the Jubilee year and was Speaker of the Legislative Council for the last three years of his life. He was a foundation director of the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company.

The Honourable
Sir Charles Johnston
Portrait of Johnston, ca. 1876
Mayor of Wellington
In office
19 December 1889 – 23 December 1890
Governors-GeneralThe Earl of Onslow
The Earl of Glasgow
Preceded byJohn Duthie
Succeeded byArthur Winton Brown
14th Speaker of the Legislative Council
In office
1916 – 13 June 1918
Preceded byCharles Bowen
Succeeded byWalter Carncross
Personal details
Born
Charles John Johnston

(1845-10-11)11 October 1845
Wellington, New Zealand
Died13 June 1918(1918-06-13) (aged 72)
Wellington, New Zealand
Political partyIndependent
SpouseAlice Margaret Featherston
RelationsIsaac Featherston (father-in-law)
Children11
Parent(s)John Johnston
Henrietta Charlotte Hatton

Biography

He was born on 11 October 1845 in Wellington, the son of prominent merchant John Johnston. He was educated at Wellington Commercial and Grammar School, and was later educated in England at the Catholic College of St. Mary in Derbyshire, and at Kensington Grammar School in London. He returned to New Zealand in 1864 and entered Johnston & Co who were ship owners and merchants. His family was descended from the Johnstons of Annandale, through the Ayrshire Branch of the family.[1] A brother Walter Woods Johnston was also an MP.[2]

Johnston joined the volunteers and when the Wellington Brigade was formed was appointed to the rank of captain. When he moved to the active-reserve he was appointed Captain-Commandant. He was married to Alice Margaret Featherston, daughter of Isaac Earl Featherston. Two of his eight sons were killed in action in World War I, Brigadier-General Francis Earl Johnston and Captain Octavius Featherston Johnston. Another four of his sons also served in World War I - Guy, Charles, Harold, and Ian Johnston. Johnston also had three daughters – Zoë, Alice, and Doris. Zoë was also widowed on the death of her husband William Fitzgerald Levin from injuries suffered at Gallipoli. Doris was married to the Hon. Nigel Gathorne-Hardy, son of the 2nd Earl of Cranbrook, who was aide-de-camp to the Governor-General of New Zealand between 1907 and 1910.[3]

New Zealand Parliament
Years Term Electorate Party
1881–1884 8th Te Aro Independent
1884–1887 9th Te Aro Independent

He represented the Te Aro electorate from 1881 to 1887, when he resigned.[4] He was a member of the Legislative Council from 1891 until his death in 1918,[5] and the Speaker from 1915 to 1918.[6] He was appointed from 22 January 1891 as one of seven new members (including Harry Atkinson himself) appointed to the Council by the outgoing fourth Atkinson Ministry; a move regarded by Liberals as a stacking of the upper house against the new government.

Johnston as Legislative chamber speaker, 1915

His fourth son, Harold Featherston Johnston (1875–1959), became a judge of the Supreme Court and was appointed King's Counsel in 1930.[7] Upon the death of Charles Skerrett in 1929, the position of Chief Justice was offered to Harold Johnston, who declined the offer, and Michael Myers became the next Chief Justice instead.[8] Harold Johnston unsuccessfully stood for the Reform Party in the 1929 by-election in the Hutt electorate.[9]

Johnston died in Wellington on 13 June 1918 after a prolonged illness. He was to be knighted in 1918, but he died before the patent could be completed; nonetheless, he was honoured with a posthumous knighthood.[10]

Notes
  1. "Death of Sir Charles Johnston". The Evening Post. Vol. XCV, no. 140. 13 June 1918. p. 8.
  2. Ralston, Bruce. "Johnston, Walter Woods". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 13 January 2012.
  3. "[Residents and Staff] | NZETC". nzetc.victoria.ac.nz. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
  4. Wilson 1985, p. 208.
  5. Wilson 1985, p. 156.
  6. Wilson 1985, p. 201681.
  7. "Queen's Counsel appointments since 1907 as at July 2013" (PDF). Crown Law Office. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 March 2014. Retrieved 4 September 2013.
  8. Spiller, Peter. "Myers, Michael". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 27 March 2014.
  9. "The Hutt Seat". The Evening Post. Vol. CXII, no. 108. 3 November 1931. p. 8. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
  10. "Johnston, Charles John (Sir), 1845-1918". natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 6 April 2023.

References
  • Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First published in 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.
  • No Mean City by Stuart Perry (1969, Wellington City Council) includes a paragraph and a portrait or photo for each mayor.
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