James Mackintosh (18 October 1827 – 9 May 1897) was a 19th-century Liberal Party Member of Parliament in Southland, New Zealand.
He was born in Lochinver, Sutherlandshire, Scotland, and went to Victoria, Australia as a young man with his father.[1] At Moonee Ponds, he and his brother Murdoch Mackintosh were stock-breeders.[2][3] The 1940 edition of the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography lists him as a representative of East Bourke in the Victoria Legislative Assembly, but this is incorrect and based on a confusion with the similarly named James Macintosh.[4]
Mackintosh married Anne McLean in 1852. Her father owned the Pollio station on the Darling River.[1]
Years | Term | Electorate | Party | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1890–1893 | 11th | Wallace | Liberal | ||
1893–1896 | 12th | Wallace | Liberal |
The Mackintoshs moved to New Zealand in 1866, where he was also a runholder.[5] He first bought the Strathmore estate in the Otautau district, and later the Gladfield estate.[2] He retired from farming in 1884 and moved to Invercargill.[2]
From 1880 until shortly before his death, Mackintosh was a member of the Southland Education Board. He set up the Aparima road board.[6] While obituaries in The Evening Post (Wellington) and The Star (Christchurch) mention his membership of the Southland Provincial Council,[3][6] his name does not appear on the council's roll compiled by Guy Scholefield in his 1950 edition of the New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1949.[7] For a time, he was chairman of the Wallace County Council.[3]
Mackintosh stood in the 1887 election in the Mataura electorate and was beaten by the incumbent, George Richardson.[1][8] He represented the Wallace electorate from the 1890 election for two parliamentary terms.[9]
He was an advocate of cheap government loans for settlers.[5] In the 1896 election, the Wallace electorate was contested by five candidates, and Mackintosh came last.[10]
Annie Mackintosh died on 11 May 1880 in Invercargill.[11] Mackintosh died on 9 May 1897, aged 69.[3] He left seven sons and four daughters.[6]