Alfred Saunders

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title: "Alfred Saunders" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1820-births", "1905-deaths", "superintendents-of-new-zealand-provincial-councils", "members-of-the-new-zealand-house-of-representatives", "members-of-the-nelson-provincial-council", "unsuccessful-candidates-in-the-1881-new-zealand-general-election", "unsuccessful-candidates-in-the-1887-new-zealand-general-election", "unsuccessful-candidates-in-the-1896-new-zealand-general-election", "unsuccessful-candidates-in-the-1884-new-zealand-general-election", "new-zealand-mps-for-south-island-electorates", "saunders-family", "people-from-shropshire", "english-emigrants-to-new-zealand", "new-zealand-social-reformers", "new-zealand-temperance-activists", "19th-century-new-zealand-farmers"] description: "New Zealand politician (1820–1905)" topic_path: "people/1820s" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Saunders" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary New Zealand politician (1820–1905) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox officeholder"]

Field	Value
name	Alfred Saunders
image	Mr. Alfred Saunders.jpg
caption	Saunders,
order	3rd Superintendent of Nelson Province
term_start	March 1865
term_end	4 February 1867
predecessor	John Perry Robinson
successor	Oswald Curtis
birth_date
birth_place	Market Lavington, England
death_date
party	Independent
spouse
children	10, including Sarah, Samuel
relatives	Samuel Saunders (brother)
Mary Bayly (sister)
William Saunders (brother)
Robert Page (grandson)
Kae Miller (great-granddaughter)
Sarah McMurray (niece)
::

| name = Alfred Saunders | image = Mr. Alfred Saunders.jpg | alt = | caption = Saunders, | order = 3rd Superintendent of Nelson Province | term_start = March 1865 | term_end = 4 February 1867 | predecessor = John Perry Robinson | successor = Oswald Curtis | birth_date = | birth_place = Market Lavington, England | death_date = | death_place = | party = Independent | spouse = | children = 10, including Sarah, Samuel | relatives = Samuel Saunders (brother) Mary Bayly (sister) William Saunders (brother) Robert Page (grandson) Kae Miller (great-granddaughter) Sarah McMurray (niece)

Alfred Saunders (12 June 1820 – 28 October 1905) was a New Zealand farmer, reformer, women's suffrage and temperance advocate and politician. He was Superintendent of Nelson Province and represented several electorate in the House of Representatives.

Early life and family

Saunders was born in 1820 in Market Lavington, the youngest son of Mary and Amram Saunders. He was educated in Market Lavington and at a Bristol academy. The temperance campaigner Mary Bayly was his sister, Samuel Saunders (1814–1908) was an older brother and William Saunders (1823–1895) was a younger brother.

He married Rhoda Flower in 1847. They had ten children, including Sarah Page and Samuel Saunders. Rhoda died in 1898.

He was remarried in England in 1899 to Sarah Box.

Political career

|end=1864|term=3rd|electorate=|party=Independent politician}}

He was elected onto the Nelson Provincial Council representing Waimea South in 1855 and remained a councillor until his election of Superintendent for the Nelson Province from 1865 to 1867. He was elected as Member of Parliament for Waimea in 1861, and he resigned from this seat in 1864. He then represented Cheviot from 1878 to 1881 when he was defeated. He unsuccessfully contested the in the electorate. He contested the in the electorate and was defeated by John Verrall by just two votes.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1a/Linwood_Cemetery_Saunders1.jpg" caption="Linwood Cemetery"] ::

From 1889 to 1890 he represented the Lincoln electorate and from 1890 to 1896 he represented Selwyn, being defeated at the general election of 1896 for the latter constituency. He supported the Temperance Union petition in favour of woman's suffrage to Parliament in 1891. He was involved, as an MP, in the political machinations to get legislation passed to give voting rights to New Zealand women, including during the final stages of the legislation in 1893. He also corresponded with the leader of the suffrage movement, Kate Sheppard, to keep her up-to-date with the fast-changing political situation in parliament as the legislation was being debated.

Authorship

Alfred Saunders was an author and his published titles include;

• "History of New Zealand" a comprehensive two volume publication (550 pages.) 1896–99. Contains much on early NZ Governments. Available on line.
• "The Perfect Draft Horse" 1886
• "Tales of a Pioneer" published by his daughters, 1927. Also available on line
• "Our Domestic Birds" 1883
• "Our Horses" 1885.

References

References

1. {{DNZB. McGibbon. Ian. 1s1. Saunders, Alfred. 1 February 2021
2. "Saunders, Alfred, 1820-1905".
3. Wilson, Jim. (1985). "New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984". V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer.
4. Grimshaw, Patricia. (1972). "Women's Suffrage in New Zealand". Auckland University Press.
5. Cale, Michelle. (23 September 2004). "Bayly [née Saunders], Mary (1816–1899), temperance activist and writer". Oxford University Press.
6. Gregory, James Richard Thomas Elliott. (2002). "The Vegetarian Movement in Britain c.1840–1901: A Study of Its Development, Personnel and Wider Connections". [[University of Southampton]].
7. (19 April 2013). "William Saunders – political firebrand". Market Lavington Museum.
8. {{DNZB. Bohan. Edmund. 3p1. Sarah Page. 5 December 2015
9. "Saunders, Samuel, 1857-1943".
10. (27 May 1898). "Deaths". [[Timaru Herald]].
11. (1899). "News and Notes". Papers Past (National Library of New Zealand ).
12. (31 July 1888). "Ashley Election". [[The Press]].
13. (1903). "The Cyclopedia of New Zealand : Canterbury Provincial District". The Cyclopedia Company Limited.

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