George Graham (New Zealand politician)

George Graham (10 December 1812 – 14 February 1901) was a Scottish military engineer in the Corps of Royal Engineers and a Member of the New Zealand House of Representatives.

George Graham
George Graham, c. 1900
Born	(1812-12-10)10 December 1812 Frogmore, Berkshire, England[1]
Died	14 February 1901(1901-02-14) (aged 88) 42 Tisbury Road, Hove, Brighton, England[2]
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Branch	Board of Ordnance
Rank	Clerk of Works
Unit	Corps of Royal Engineers
Campaigns	Flagstaff War (military works) Second Opium War
Spouse(s)	Jane Sargeant[3]
Children	William Australia Graham
Relations	George Samuel Graham (grandson)
Other work	Farmer Member of the New Zealand House of Representatives for Newton, 1861–69 Justice of the Peace for the Colony of New Zealand, 1861[4]

Graham was born in 1812 at Frogmore in Berkshire,[5] England, and christened at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, that year. He belonged to Clan Graham, and his grandfather was an interpreter between the Scottish and English. He became clerk of works with the Board of Ordnance aged 19, and was assigned to the Royal Engineers for the next 25 years. He was posted to Ireland in 1835, to New South Wales in 1836, and to New Zealand in 1840.[6][5]

His work for the Royal Engineers involved public works, roads and military installations. The Flagstaff War in the Bay of Islands in 1845–1846 put a scare to the population of Auckland, and Graham supervised the enlargement of the Albert Barracks overlooking the town.[6][7] He later claimed that the fortification of the barracks was not necessary, but by doing so, it would prevent the subdivision of the hill and that the area could thus later become a park.[5] Indeed, Albert Park was formed in the 1880s.

Graham was then sent to China, where he suffered a nervous breakdown after witnessing a fellow soldier being buried alive. He resigned from the military and returned to New Zealand, where he took up farming in Mangere.[6][5]

He represented the Newton electorate from 1861 to 1869, when he resigned.[8] He was described by one newspaper as "a well-known Maori sympathiser".[9]

Graham retired to Hove, Brighton, in England for the last years of his life. He died at home on 14 February 1901.[6] His son James Bannatyne Graham married Elizabeth Mary Josephine Sheehan, the sister of cabinet minister John Sheehan. Their son was George Samuel Graham.[10]