Joseph Petrie
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
{{Use New Zealand English|date=August 2014}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Joseph Petrie
| honorific_suffix =
| image = Joseph Petrie HHM.jpg
| alt =
| caption =
| parliament3 = New Zealand
| majority3 =
| term_start3 = 1881
| term_end3 = 1884
| predecessor3 = New constituency
| successor3 = Arthur Guinness
| order4 = 12th
| office4 = Mayor of Greymouth
| term_start4 = 1887
| term_end4 = 1888
| predecessor4 = Richard Nancarrow
| successor4 = John Mitchell
| term_start5 = 1907
| term_end5 = 1908
| predecessor5 = James Andrew Petrie
| successor5 = Thomas Eldon Coates
| constituency_MP3 = Greymouth
| birth_date = {{Birth year|1848}}
| birth_place = Aberdeenshire, Scotland
| death_date = {{Death date and given age|1908|05|04|59|df=y}}
| death_place = Wellington, New Zealand
| spouse = Eliza Creer
| children =
| relatives = George York (son-in-law)
| occupation = Journalist, newspaper editor
}}
Joseph Petrie (1848 – 4 May 1908) was a 19th-century Member of Parliament from Westland, New Zealand.
Early life
Petrie was born in Aberdeenshire, Scotland in 1848, and arrived in New Zealand by the ship Silistria in 1860. Petrie went to the Otago goldfields, and visited Gabriel's Gully. He settled on the West Coast in 1865, first in Hokitika but soon after he came to Greymouth. A journalist by profession, he was editor and part proprietor of the Greymouth Evening Star. Petrie was a member of the Jockey Club and Trotting Club. He married Miss Creer in 1874, and they had three surviving sons and two surviving daughters.{{sfn|Cyclopedia|1906}}{{cite news |title=Obituary : Joseph Petrie |url= https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/GRA19080505.2.12 |access-date=1 September 2020 |work=Grey River Argus |date=5 May 1908 |page=3}}
Political career
{{NZ parlbox header|nolist=true|align=left}}
{{NZ parlbox
|start = {{NZ election link year|1881}}
|end = 1884
|term = 8th
|electorate = {{NZ electorate link|Greymouth}}
|party = Independent politician
}}
{{NZ parlbox footer}}
From 1875, Petrie was a member of Greymouth Borough for several decades until his death.{{sfn|Cyclopedia|1906}} He was mayor of Greymouth for two terms in 1887 and 1888.{{cite book |title=The Cyclopedia of New Zealand : Nelson, Marlborough & Westland Provincial Districts |year=1906 |url= http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-Cyc05Cycl-t1-body1-d3-d26-d5.html |publisher=The Cyclopedia of New Zealand |author=Cyclopedia Company Limited |location=Christchurch |chapter=Ex-Mayors}} He was an inaugural councillor when Brunner Borough was formed in November 1887, simultaneous to his Greymouth mayoralty.{{cite news |title=Grey River Argus |url= https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/GRA18871128.2.5 |access-date=1 September 2020 |volume=XXXV |issue=6049 |date=28 November 1887 |page=2}} Petrie was a member of the Greymouth Harbour Board for over 20 years.{{cite book
| editor-last = Scholefield
| editor-first = Guy
| editor-link = Guy Scholefield
| title = A Dictionary of New Zealand Biography : M–Addenda
| volume = II
| year = 1940
| publisher = Department of Internal Affairs
| location = Wellington
| url = https://www.nzhistory.net.nz/files/documents/dnzb-1940/scholefield-dnzb-v2.pdf
}}
He represented the Greymouth electorate from {{NZ election link year|1881}} to 1884, when he was defeated by Arthur Guinness.{{cite book |last= Wilson |first= James Oakley |title= New Zealand parliamentary record, 1840–1984 |edition= 4 |orig-year= First ed. published 1913 |year=1985 |publisher=V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer |location=Wellington |oclc=154283103 |page=226}} At the {{NZ election link|1905}}, Petrie challenged Guinness for the seat but Guinness retained his incumbency.
Petrie stood once more for the mayoralty of Greymouth in April 1907 and was successful.{{cite news |title=Municipal elections |url= https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/GRA19070425.2.10 |access-date=1 September 2020 |work=Grey River Argus |date=25 April 1907 |page=2}}
Death
On a business trip to Wellington in early April 1908, Petrie had a fall in the suburb of Newtown when leaving a tram.{{cite news |title=Topics of the day |url= https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WCT19080414.2.8 |access-date=1 September 2020 |work=West Coast Times |issue=14383 |date=14 April 1908 |page=2}} The tram suddenly jolted forward and Petrie was thrown heavily from the carriage. He was knocked out and sustained internal injuries. Taken to a private hospital, Petrie did not regain consciousness for two days.{{Cite news|last=Ewen|first=Peter|date=20 October 1999|title=Joseph Petrie left his mark on early Greymouth|page=2|work=The Coaster}}
Although hospitalised in Wellington, Petrie contested the Greymouth mayoral election later that month represented through his son John.{{cite news |title=Geymouth mayoralty |url= https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/GEST19080414.2.13 |access-date=1 September 2020 |work=Greymouth Evening Star |date=14 April 1908 |page=2}} The other candidate for the mayoralty withdrew, not wishing to cause the injured Petrie "any anxiety".{{cite news |title=Untitled |url= https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/GRA19080424.2.12 |access-date=1 September 2020 |work=Grey River Argus |date=24 April 1908 |page=2}} Petrie was declared elected on 24 April{{cite news |title=Borough of Greymouth |url= https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/GRA19080425.2.39.2 |access-date=1 September 2020 |work=Grey River Argus |date=25 April 1908 |page=3}} but did not return from Wellington; he died there on 4 May 1908.
Petrie's body was shipped home on the steamer Mapourika for burial at the Greymouth cemetery. Members of the borough council carried his coffin from the ship and placed it in the goods shed before the hearse arrived. An estimated 2,500 people attended the funeral. Petrie's coffin was carried on a fire carriage with local councillors acting as pallbearers with two bands, the Druids and the Fire Brigade, trailing the procession. There was a strong representation from people from the hospital, education and the racing clubs as well as several members of Parliament. The Last Post sounded at the conclusion of the service.
Notes
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References
- File:PD-icon.svg This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: {{cite book |ref={{sfnRef|Cyclopedia|1906}} |title=The Cyclopedia of New Zealand : Nelson, Marlborough & Westland Provincial Districts |year=1906 |url= http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-Cyc05Cycl-t1-body1-d3-d26-d3.html |publisher=The Cyclopedia of New Zealand |author=Cyclopedia Company Limited |location=Christchurch |chapter=Greymouth Corporation}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-par | nz}}
{{s-new | constituency}}
{{s-ttl | title=Member of Parliament for Greymouth|years=1881–1884}}
{{s-aft | after=Arthur Guinness}}
{{end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Petrie, Joseph}}
Category:Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives
Category:Unsuccessful candidates in the 1884 New Zealand general election
Category:Unsuccessful candidates in the 1887 New Zealand general election
Category:New Zealand MPs for South Island electorates
Category:19th-century New Zealand politicians
Category:Unsuccessful candidates in the 1905 New Zealand general election