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James Stuart-Wortley (New Zealand politician)
James Frederick Stuart-Wortley JP (16 January 1833 – 27 November 1870[1][2]) was a politician in New Zealand and the UK. He was New Zealand's inaugural Baby of the House and remains the youngest member of parliament in the country's history; in fact he was too young (at 20 years and 7 months) to even be legally elected. Early lifeStuart-Wortley was born in York[citation needed], United Kingdom, on 16 January 1833[3] and was the third son of the 2nd Lord Wharncliffe and his wife, Lady Georgiana Elizabeth Ryder.[4] He was the younger brother of the 1st Earl of Wharncliffe (1827–1899).[5] Charles James Stuart-Wortley and James Stuart-Wortley were his uncles.[citation needed] Dudley Ryder, 1st Earl of Harrowby was his maternal grandfather. CareerIn 1850, he travelled to New Zealand as a colonist on the Charlotte Jane, one of the First Four Ships sent by the Canterbury Association.[6] In his first year, he lived with other bachelors in Lyttelton—Charles Bowen, Thomas Hanmer, and Charles Maunsell—in a place dubbed "Singleton House" by Charlotte Godley.[7] He bought 500 acres (200 ha) of land at Tai Tapu near Halswell.[4] In October 1852, he purchased Run 53, located between Lake Ellesmere / Te Waihora and the Selwyn River. He on-sold the land in June 1853 and it became part of the Harman and Davie's Station.[8] Stuart-Wortley then started Hawkeswood Station in partnership with others. This station was located north of the Waiau Uwha River.[8] New Zealand parliament
On 27 August 1853, Stuart-Wortley was elected to the 1st New Zealand Parliament as a representative of the Christchurch Country electorate,[9] which consisted of rural Canterbury and much of Westland. Henry Sewell, who kept a "secret" journal,[a] recorded the following about the young man's candidacy:[11]
Stuart-Wortley was 20 years and 7 months when elected; so was not yet 21, the minimum age to qualify as an elector.[3][12] After the first session of Parliament finished in August 1854, Stuart-Wortley travelled with Frederick Weld from Auckland (where Parliament met in those years) to Tauranga, Maketu, and Rotorua.[13] He resigned his seat on 18 July 1855[9] and returned to the United Kingdom.[14] His seat stayed vacant until the next election, which was held on 20 December 1855 in the Christchurch Country electorate.[15] Return to EnglandHe was appointed a justice of the peace in early 1858.[16] He returned to England later in 1858.[4] In the UK, he stood for election to the House of Commons at the 1865 general election, when he was an unsuccessful Conservative Party candidate for Sheffield.[17] Personal lifeStuart-Wortley died in England in November 1870, aged 37.[1][2] His elder brother Edward built St Mary and St John's Church, Hardraw as a memorial to him.[5] FootnotesNotes
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