Edward Richardson

Richardson was elected onto the 6th Canterbury Provincial Council in May 1870 for the Town of Lyttelton electorate. He was re-elected in March 1874 for the 7th (and last) Council and held this role until the abolition of provincial government in October 1876.^[9]

Richardson and Henry Wynn-Williams stood in the Christchurch West electorate in the 1871 election,^[10] obtaining 234 and 214 votes, respectively. Richardson was thus declared elected.^[11]

In the 1875 election, he contested the City of Christchurch electorate. He came second in this three-member electorate (Edward Stevens came first, and William Moorhouse, the person who caused him to come to New Zealand, came third) and was thus returned.^[12]

He came fourth in the September 1879 election for the three-member Christchurch electorate (George Grey came first, and Samuel Paull Andrews and Edward Stevens came second with equal numbers of votes, and only 23 votes ahead of Richardson).^[13] He petitioned against George Grey's return on technical grounds, as Grey had already been elected in the Thames electorate.^[14][15][16] The electoral commission unseated Grey on 24 October,^[17] with Richardson offered to fill this vacancy a few days later. Grey was allowed to keep the Thames seat and remained a member of parliament through that constituency.^[18]

The City of Christchurch electorate was abolished at the end of the 7th session of parliament, and Richardson stood in Lyttelton in the 1881 election. He was narrowly defeated by Harry Allwright, who had a majority of 11 on Richardson.^[19] Ironically, Allwright had been the chair of the 1879 electoral commission, and it had been his casting vote that unseated Grey and thus allowed Richardson back into the lower house.

Following a petition, the 1881 general election in the Stanmore electorate was declared invalid. The resulting 12 July 1882 by-election was contested by Walter Pilliet, Richardson and William Patten Cowlishaw (a partner of Francis James Garrick). They received 469, 345 and 244 votes, respectively. Pilliet was declared elected with a majority of 124 votes.^[20][21]

Richardson stood in the 6 April 1883 by-election in the Selwyn electorate, coming second.

Richardson then stood in the 16 May 1884 by-election in the Kaiapoi electorate. He was returned unopposed and re-entered parliament.^[22]

Soon after, he contested the Kaiapoi seat in the 1884 general election and was confirmed by the voters.^[23] He was re-elected in the 1887 general election^[24] and represented Kaiapoi until the 1890 election, when he retired from the lower house.^[25]

In October 1872, Richardson became a member of the Waterhouse Ministry, and held the portfolio of Public Works. He retained that position in the successive Fox, Vogel, Pollen and Atkinson ministries. Poor health brought on by overwork caused him to resign his ministerial role in January 1877.^[3][5][26]

As a public works expert, he was again appointed a Minister for Public Works under the Stout Vogel Government, and held the portfolio from September 1884 to October 1887. He was ranked third in cabinet below Robert Stout and Vogel. The family moved to Wellington in 1884 for this ministerial appointment.^[3][5][27]

Richardson was appointed to the Legislative Council on 15 October 1892 and remained a member until 15 October 1899, when his term ended.^[5]

Richardson bought the land around the Opawa railway station plus an adjacent 13 acres in 1871 and built his residence, The Hollies. It is believed that he designed the house himself, and it is broadly Australian in appearance. Stone from the tunnel project was used in the construction. Richardson was affected by the recession in the late 1880 and in 1889, the Bank of New Zealand repossessed the house and land, and onsold it to sheep farmer John Robert Campbell. The building is registered with Heritage New Zealand, and was registered on 24 June 2005 as a Category II heritage structure with registration number 3112.^[28]

Richardson was appointed Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in the 1879 Birthday Honours.^[5] His second wife (Frances) died on 1 October 1913. Richardson died in Wellington on 26 February 1915, and was survived by a son from his marriage with Margaret, and four sons and two daughters from his marriage with Frances, one of whom was the artist Mollie Tripe .^[2][3] He was interred at Karori Cemetery in Wellington.^[29]