John Salmon (politician)

Salmon was born in 1808 in Aberdeen, Scotland. Like his brother David, he was engaged in shipping trade; John Salmon went to sea from age 14.^[1] His brother owned the 3,000 acres (1,200 ha) Moturoa Island near Kerikeri in New Zealand but drowned at Kororareka (now known as Russell) in 1839.^[2][3] John Salmon came to New Zealand in late 1841 and first arrived in Wellington,^[4] with the purpose of settling his brother's estate.^[3]

Salmon traded on the east coast of the North Island, and between New Zealand and Australia. After some time, he based himself in Auckland, which at the time was the country's capital. Some obituaries incorrectly state he built the windmill on Karangahape Road above central Auckland.^[3][5]

In May 1852, an act allowed for two-thirds of the membership of provincial legislative councils to be elected. Salmon was one of the three successful candidates for the Auckland City electorate (the other two were Frederick Whitaker and William Brown). Before this provincial legislative council could first meet, news was received in December 1852 that the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 had been passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom; this established different governance arrangements. No meeting of the elected members was ever called.^[6][7][8]

Salmon was a member of the Legislative Council that was established through the Constitution Act. There were 16 initial members in the upper house who first met in May 1854 and Salmon was 1 of the 6 Aucklanders who had been appointed.^[9] His membership lasted from 26 May 1853 to 21 December 1868, when he was disqualified for absence.^[10] He stopped attending the council's sessions when parliament moved to Wellington.^[3]