Hugh Carleton

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title: "Hugh Carleton" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1810-births", "1890-deaths", "members-of-the-new-zealand-house-of-representatives", "unsuccessful-candidates-in-the-1871-new-zealand-general-election", "new-zealand-mps-for-north-island-electorates", "people-educated-at-eton-college", "alumni-of-trinity-college,-cambridge", "irish-emigrants-to-new-zealand", "new-zealand-editors", "new-zealand-magazine-editors", "new-zealand-journalists", "19th-century-new-zealand-politicians", "williams-family-(new-zealand)"] description: "New Zealand politician (1810–1890)" topic_path: "people/1810s" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Carleton" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary New Zealand politician (1810–1890) ::

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

Field	Value
name	Hugh Carleton
image	Hugh Francis Carleton, ca 1870s.jpg
alt	b&w seated portrait photo of a bearded man
caption	Carleton,
birth_name	Hugh Francis Carleton
birth_date
birth_place	Ireland
death_date
death_place	Lewisham, Surrey, England
spouse
order3	2nd Chairman of Committees
term_start3	1856
term_end3	1870
predecessor3	Frederick Merriman
successor3	Maurice O'Rorke
constituency_MP5	Bay of Islands
parliament5	New Zealand
term_start5
term_end5	1870
predecessor5	New constituency
successor5	In abeyance (title next held by Richard Hobbs)
relatives
::

|honorific-prefix = |name = Hugh Carleton |honorific-suffix = |image = Hugh Francis Carleton, ca 1870s.jpg |alt = b&w seated portrait photo of a bearded man |caption = Carleton, |birth_name = Hugh Francis Carleton |birth_date = |birth_place = Ireland |death_date = |death_place = Lewisham, Surrey, England |spouse = |order3 = 2nd Chairman of Committees |term_start3 = 1856 |term_end3 = 1870 |predecessor3 = Frederick Merriman |successor3 = Maurice O'Rorke | constituency_MP5 = Bay of Islands | parliament5 = New Zealand | majority5 = | term_start5 = | term_end5 = 1870 | predecessor5 = New constituency | successor5 = In abeyance (title next held by Richard Hobbs) | relatives = |religion = |profession = Hugh Francis Carleton (3 July 1810 – 14 July 1890) was a New Zealand journalist and politician. He was New Zealand's first member of parliament.

Early life

Carleton was born in 1810. He was the son of Francis Carleton (1780–1870) and Charlotte Margaretta Molyneux-Montgomerie (d. 1874). Hugh Carleton, 1st Viscount Carleton was the brother of his grandfather, John Carleton. His family was living in Clare, County Tipperary and then Greenfield, County Cork, Ireland. He was educated at Eton College and Trinity College, Cambridge. He studied law in London, then art in Italy.

Life in New Zealand

Carleton settled in the Bay of Islands in 1842.

Journalism career

Carleton became a journalist in Auckland and edited the New Zealander then established the Anglo-Maori Warder, which followed an editorial policy in opposition to Governor George Grey. In 1856 he became the editor of the Southern Cross.

Political career

|start = |end = 1855 |term = 1st |electorate = |party = Independent politician |start = |end = 1860 |term = 2nd |electorate = Bay of Islands |party = Independent politician |start = 1861 |end = 1866 |term = 3rd |electorate = Bay of Islands |party = Independent politician |start = |end = 1870 |term = 4th |electorate = Bay of Islands |party = Independent politician Carleton was a member of New Zealand's first, second, third, and fourth Parliaments, representing the electorate from 1853 to 1870, when he was defeated. Owing to the system of staggering used in the first general election, Carleton was actually the first MP ever elected in New Zealand (though he was elected unopposed), hence he liked to be called the Father of the House.

Carleton was the second Chairman of Committees, succeeding Frederick Merriman on 17 April 1856, i.e. just after the opening of the first session of the 2nd Parliament. He remained Chairman of Committees until he left Parliament in 1870.

He had a strong interest in parliamentary procedure, and unsuccessfully lobbied for the position of Speaker. He is known for his unsuccessful campaign against the availability of alcoholic beverages at Bellamy's, the parliamentary restaurant. He was also a critic of the idea that all voting districts should contain the same number of voters, saying that this system gave "a preponderating control" of the political world to one specific class. He was described as "scholarly" by his allies and "pedantic" by his critics.

Later life in England

Carleton returned to England and spent the last ten years of his life there. He died at Lewisham, Surrey, England, on 14 July 1890. His wife, Lydia, died in Napier, New Zealand, on 28 November 1891.

Publications

• (1874) – The life of Henry Williams, Archdeacon of Waimate. Auckland NZ. Online available from Early New Zealand Books (ENZB).

Notes

References

| title=Chairman of Committees of the House of Representatives | years=1856–1870

References

1. {{cite Australasia. Carleton, Hugh Francis
2. (2011). "Te Wiremu: Henry Williams – Early Years in the North". Huia Publishers.
3. (9 December 1859). "Married". [[Daily Southern Cross]].
4. {{DNZB. Silver. D. B.. 1C5. Carleton, Hugh Francis. 5 April 2011
5. Littlejohn, Charles Philip. (23 April 2009). "An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand". [[Ministry for Culture and Heritage.
6. (26 May 1854). "The Southern Cross". [[Daily Southern Cross]].
7. (12 September 1890). "Deaths". New Zealand Mail.
8. (11 December 1891). "Deaths". New Zealand Mail.
9. (28 November 1891). "Deaths". [[The Daily Telegraph (Napier, New Zealand).
10. (5 December 1891). "Deaths". [[The New Zealand Herald]].
11. (4 December 1891). "Deaths". New Zealand Times.

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