Charles Bigg Wither

Charles Bigg Wither or Charles Bigg-Wither (27 April 1822 – 28 June 1894) was a member of the New Zealand Legislative Council for a short period in 1863.

Charles Bigg Wither
Member of the New Zealand Legislative Council
In office
15 October 1863 – 9 November 1863
Personal details
Born(1822-04-27)27 April 1822
Manydown Park, Wootton St Lawrence, Hampshire, England
Died28 June 1894(1894-06-28) (aged 72)
Wensley Hill, Richmond, New Zealand
Resting placeRichmond Cemetery
RelationsThomas Plantagenet Bigg-Wither (nephew)
Alma materUniversity of Edinburgh
Occupationfarmer

Wither was born in 1822 at Manydown Park, a manor in Wootton St Lawrence, Hampshire, England.[1] His father was Harris Bigg-Wither (1781–1838), who was Lord of the Manor at Manydown from 1813 to 1833[2] and is famous for having proposed to Jane Austen.[3] The engineer and writer Thomas Plantagenet Bigg-Wither, a son of his eldest brother Lovelace Bigg-Wither (1805–1874), was his nephew.[4] The Lords of the Manor at Manydown were initially from the Wither family. When William Wither V (1733–1789) died, he had no heir, and a cousin with the surname Bigg — the Reverend Lovelace Bigg (1741–1813) — became his successor. He and his sons took on the surname Bigg-Wither. In all New Zealand sources, Charles Bigg Wither is referred to simply as Wither (or C. B. Wither) and thus appears to have used Bigg as his middle name only.

Wither received his education at Winchester and at the University of Edinburgh. He came to New Zealand on the Ursula in 1843 and settled near Nelson.[5][6] He owned a sheep station at the Taylor River upstream from Blenheim from about 1848. He sold the land in 1867 to Ralph Richardson and to the father of Henry Redwood.[7] The Wither Hills south of Blenheim, which were part of his sheep run, are named for him.[6] Wither himself lived in Richmond where he had another farm.[5]

Wither was one of the original nine trustees of Nelson College; other notable foundation trustees were Charles Elliott, David Monro, John Barnicoat, William Wells, and Alfred Domett.[8]

Wither was a member of the Legislative Council from 15 October to 9 November 1863, when he resigned.[9] His membership appeared in a gazette notice (it stated that he had been summoned to the council),[10] but he declined the membership.[11]

Wither died at Wensley Hill in Richmond on 28 June 1894.[12] He is buried at Richmond Cemetery.[13] His sons Frederick and James were the executors of his will.[14]

References
  1. "Charles Bigg-Wither & Eleanor Burn". Family Forest website. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
  2. "Harris Bigg-Wither & Anne Howe Frith". Family Forest website. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
  3. "JASA Home". legacy.owensboro.kctcs.edu. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  4. "Lovelace Bigg-Wither & Emma Jemima Orde". Family Forest website. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
  5. The Hon. Charles Bigg Wither. Christchurch: The Cyclopedia of New Zealand. 1906. p. 29. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
  6. Matthews, Nevil (1988). "Whether The Maori could Weather The Wither". Journal of the Nelson and Marlborough Historical Societies. 2 (2). Retrieved 22 August 2017.
  7. Denton, Ralph T. (October 1984). "Early Sheep Runs of Marlborough". Journal of the Nelson and Marlborough Historical Societies. 1 (4).
  8. "Annual Report of the Board of Trustees of the Nelson Trust Funds, for the Year Ending 21st December, 1857". The Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle. XVII (3). 9 January 1858. p. 2. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
  9. Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. p. 167. OCLC 154283103.
  10. "General Government Gazette". The Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle. XXII (114). 12 November 1863. p. 4. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
  11. "Resignations". The Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle. XXII (127). 12 December 1863. p. 3. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
  12. "Deaths". Colonist. XXXVII (7978). 29 June 1894. p. 3. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
  13. "Cemetery Records in Tasman District". Archived from the original on 21 August 2017. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
  14. "Nelson Evening Mail". XXVIII (156). 6 July 1894. p. 2. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
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