Isaac Thomas Cookson (1817 – 10 December 1870) was a 19th-century Member of Parliament in Canterbury, New Zealand. He was a prominent merchant in early Canterbury.
When they arrived in New Zealand, the Cooksons had two children, a boy aged seven and a daughter aged five.[6] Sources differ whether a further child and a newborn both died on the journey[7] or whether one of them died just before they left England.[8]
Within a month of arrival, he went into business with William Bowler in Lyttelton; his business partner would later become prominent in Wellington.[4][12] In early 1852, Cookson and S. Fisher were the first to bring bees to Christchurch; they brought a hive down each from Nelson.[4][13] Cookson and Bowler took up two runs in North Canterbury in mid-1852 but sold both of them a year later.[4] The Warren was located on the south bank of the Eyre River and covered just under 12,000 acres (4,900 ha).[14] Their other run, Carleton, was located between the Eyre and Cust Rivers and covered 8,000 acres (3,200 ha).[15]
In 1859, Cookson was the first president of the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce.[5]
He was a member of the Canterbury Provincial Council and represented the Town of Lyttelton electorate (1853–1861)[19] and then the City of Christchurch electorate (1861–1862).[20] Cookson resigned from his political roles in October 1862 as he had received news of his only daughter Louisa having fallen seriously ill in Europe. The Superintendent of the Canterbury Province, James FitzGerald, presided over a private dinner on 13 October attended by some 60 people.[21][22] The Cooksons did not get to see their daughter again as she died on 22 November 1862 in Pau in southern France.[23]
Death
Janetta Cookson died on a journey to South America in late 1866. After leaving Saint Thomas, one of the Virgin Islands in the Caribbean Sea, she fell ill and died within a couple of days.[24] Isaac Cookson died on 10 December 1870 at Newcastle upon Tyne.[nb 1][27] His will concerning his New Zealand affairs was presided over by Justice Henry Barnes Gresson in March 1873.[26]
Footnotes
^There are several reliable sources that state that he died in 1881[5][18] and other reliable sources state that he died in 1870.[4][25] As his will concerning his New Zealand estate was presided over by Justice Henry Barnes Gresson in March 1873, with his son Walter Selby Cookson as the executor, the 1870 death year is the one that is correct.[26]
Acland, Leopold George Dyke (1946). The Early Canterbury Runs: Containing the First, Second and Third (new) Series. Christchurch: Whitcombe and Tombs Limited.
