- 804 Margaret Featherston Durham 1837
From the Original in Durham University Archives and Library
This is the last will and testament of me Margaret Featherston of Cotfield House in the county of Durham spinster First I order and direct all my just debts the cost of proving this my will and other incidental charges to be fully paid and satisfied by my executrix hereinafter named Also I give and bequeath unto my dear Father the legacy or sum of two hundred pounds To my brother Isaac Earl Featherston the legacy or sum of four hundred pounds To my sister Jane Featherston the legacy or sum of two hundred pounds And to William Muschamp the legacy or sum of one hundred pounds to be paid to them respectively within twelve calender months next after my decease. Also I give devise and bequeath all the real and all the singular the rest and residue of the personal estate of what nature or kind soever the same may be of which I am possessed or entitled to either in possession reversion remainder or expecting and over which I possess my right or power of dispositions unto my dear mother Jane Featherston her heirs executors administrators and assigns to and for her own absolute use and benefit independently of her present or any after taken husband or husbands and so and in such manner that the same shall not be subject or liable to his debts or control or engagements And I do hereby declare that the receipt or receipts of my said dear mother not withstanding her coverture shall be good and sufficient discharges to all and every person and persons whomsoever for any monies or other effects to be received by her And of this my last will and testament I do hereby nominate constitute and appoint my said dear mother Jane Featherston sole executrix hereby making all former or other wills by me at any time heretofore made and declaring this only to be and contain my last will and testament In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 22nd day of April in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and thirty seven Margaret Featherston
Signed sealed published and declared by the said testatrix Margaret Featherston as and for her last will and testament in the presence of us who at her request in her presence and in the presence of each other have hereunto subscribed our names as witnesses Thomas Featherston Junr ? Elizabeth Weightman Mary Guthrie Twenty second of April 1837
The Will of Margaret Featherston
This will was proved at Durham on the 28th day of August 1837 by Jane Featherston wife of Thomas Featherston of Cotfield House in the parish of Gateshead in the county of Durham the sole executrix to whom administration was granted she having been first duly sworn before the Reverend Robert Green clerk Master of Arts a Commisioner in this behalf lawfully appointed faithfully to execute and perform the same as usual Effects sworn under £1000 R Burrell Pw? Joseph Davison Depy Reg
Isaac Earl Featherston was born at Newcastle upon Tyne, England, on 21 March 1813, the son of Thomas Featherston, a wealthy retail grocer and his wife, Jane Earl. He was educated at a private school at Tamworth and at Edinburgh University from which he graduated MD in 1836. He married Bethia Campbell Scott at Edinburgh on 10 December 1839. After traveling in search of a restoration of health (he suffered from tuberculosis), Featherston took a position as surgeon superintendent on board a New Zealand Company ship, the Olympus, which left England in December 1840 and arrived at Wellington in May 1841.
During the 1840s Featherston practiced medicine in Wellington and became involved in the new town's various associations. He helped in community-building initiatives, such as the founding of the Wellington Savings Bank in 1846, and took a leading part in deputations and public meetings. He became the first editor of the Wellington Independent in 1845. In 1848 Judge H. S. Chapman referred to him as 'a man of unimpeached character, of ability and very popular among the settlers, to whose interests he is devoted. Indeed he may be said to be the leader of the settlers.'
Featherston's first reaction on arriving at Wellington was one of shock. 'Did those mud hovels scattered along the beach, or those wooden huts which appeared every here and there…represent the City of Wellington?' He saw the New Zealand Company as having deceived its migrants, especially over the hundreds of acres of 'fine fertile land which shall produce such astounding crops'. He himself was said by Chapman to have turned against the company because 'he invested money in land in 1840 and has got a useless swamp worth nothing'. Featherston fought to secure compensation for the company's land purchasers. When a scheme finally was worked out, he received much of the credit and a service of silver plate was presented to him at a function at Barrett's Hotel on 28 June 1852. He was shocked at the smallness of the attendance: many stayed away because they suspected that the compensation was aimed at creating a class of rich landowners. This was the first of many public controversies in which he was to be involved.
In 1851 Featherston was one of the leaders of the Wellington Settlers' Constitutional Association and a critic of Governor George Grey's constitutional proposals. He caused a stir, therefore, when in 1852 and 1853 he did a volte-face and came out in support of Grey's new constitution, even defending Grey's failure to convene the General Assembly. Featherston's actions arose from his political views: an extreme provincialist, he favoured the maximum possible devolution of functions and powers to the provincial councils. Some observers, however, attributed his actions to personal ambition. Henry Sewell, calling Featherston a 'fallen angel', said that Grey had seduced him by handing over so much power to the superintendents of the new provinces. Sewell was referring to the fact that in 1853 Featherston had been elected unopposed as the first superintendent of Wellington province.
A feature of Featherston's early career was his antagonism to the Wakefields. It was said that he had intended to emigrate to Australia but was persuaded by Edward Gibbon Wakefield to go to New Zealand instead. His animosity towards the Wakefields may have stemmed from this experience of their 'sales talk'. In 1847, soon after publishing an attack on New Zealand Company land policy in the Independent , Featherston fought a duel with Colonel William Wakefield, the company's principal agent. When Edward Gibbon Wakefield arrived in Wellington in 1853, Featherston clearly saw him as a serious rival for leadership: one report had him wanting to 'drive [Wakefield] out of the colony'. Sewell believed that he was jealous of Wakefield and took an 'implacable and inflexible' attitude to his offers of co-operation. One major issue at stake was the price at which land should be sold: Wakefield tried unsuccessfully to convert Featherston to the 'high' or 'sufficient price' policy. Wakefield took up the promotion of 'small' settlement and obliged Featherston to appear to be in favour of it - until ill health removed Wakefield from political activity in 1854. A few years later his son, Edward Jerningham Wakefield, became one of Featherston's chief antagonists in Wellington's constitutional crisis.
Featherston tried to adopt a form of responsible government for Wellington province by choosing executive officers acceptable to the provincial council. One effect of this was to foster party politics. But Featherston had no intention of acting as a mere constitutional monarch and adopting policies that were acceptable to a majority composed of his and his 'party's' opponents. Such a majority was elected in 1857, and in May 1858 Featherston resigned as superintendent, apparently intending to return to England. Instead, almost immediately, he stood for and secured re-election. Three years of stalemate ensued as he had no power to dissolve the council. Government was paralysed, and, when Wellington's representatives were too preoccupied to attend the 1858 session of the General Assembly, the New Provinces Act was passed which enabled Hawke's Bay to secede from Wellington province. In 1859 he resumed full powers as superintendent and spent money without the authority of the council. The crisis was not broken until the 1861 election when he once more had a majority.
Featherston continued to hold the position of superintendent for Wellington province until 1870. He was also a member of the House of Representatives from 1853 until 1870, representing first Wanganui and then from 1855 the City of Wellington. Only twice did he hold office in the general government - as colonial secretary for a month in 1861 and minister without portfolio from 1869 to 1871. After failing to form a government in 1856, he concentrated on a career at the provincial level where he was able to enjoy a continuous hold on power such as he would have been most unlikely to have achieved at the national level. It is open to debate whether his concentration on provincial politics was a consequence of his ultra-provincialism or a cause of it.
C. R. Carter, writing in 1863, described Featherston as having 'an intellectual head, a pale face, and "sparse" hair and whiskers fast turning grey'. He was regarded as an eloquent speaker, although his voice was weak and so quiet as sometimes to be inaudible. A listener might think that he was on the verge of breaking down; naturally this characteristic added to the impact. He gave the impression of struggling to draw words from his heart. According to one observer, 'the man's fine moral nature is apparent and gives dignity to all he says'.
Featherston was troubled by constant ill health, at times severe and debilitating. Carter once found him in bed suffering simultaneously from asthma, bronchitis and sciatica. It is doubtful whether his illness had any seriously inhibiting effect on his political activity and it sometimes furnished an excuse for courses of action or modes of behaviour which he wished to adopt. The antidote to ill health was action. His approach to politics was characterised by concentrated exertion of energy, courage and boldness in seeking solutions. Such traits he described as typical of men engaged in the heroic work of founding 'a great future nation'.
In 1860 the Waitara dispute culminated in war between Maori and Pakeha. Featherston was a strong critic of the Stafford government's handling of the affair, and his speech on 7 August, denouncing the official policy, attracted widespread acclaim. It has been argued that among his reasons for taking this stand were gratitude to Wiremu Kingi Te Rangitake for his assistance in averting attack on the Wellington settlement in the 1840s, and anger over the Stafford government's New Provinces Act 1858. As conflict intensified, he became anxious about policies promoting a more vigorous prosecution of the war, fearing their unsettling effect on race relations, especially in Wellington province, and the consequence of increasing the power of the general government.
In this period Featherston became renowned for his diplomacy. Whenever trouble threatened, he intervened personally and worked to persuade Maori tribes not to join the Kingites, using his stand over Waitara as proof of his even-handedness. He acquired mana, perhaps as much as anything because of his courage and boldness.
Featherston used his new-found skills as a negotiator with particular effect in facilitating the acquisition of Maori land. In 1862 he was appointed land purchase commissioner in Wellington province. Most celebrated was his role over seven years in negotiations for the Rangitikei block, culminating in a great meeting in 1867 witnessed by Sir Charles Dilke, who was very impressed by Featherston's cunning and powers of persuasion.
During the war crisis of 1865--66 Featherston raised auxiliaries of pro-government Maori but they refused to fight unless he led them himself. Although so ill that at times he could hardly sit on his horse, he accompanied Major General Trevor Chute on his west coast campaign and led a Maori contingent in several engagements, notably at Otapawa. This episode fuelled the Featherston legend: he was described leading the men into battle 'in his dressing gown, with a cigar in his mouth, having no weapon whatever with which to defend himself'. He was subsequently awarded the New Zealand Cross for bravery. Other honours were accorded him in recognition of his services: the Wairarapa town of Featherston and Featherston Street in Wellington were named after him.
Throughout his political career Featherston followed a policy of selling land in Wellington province at a low price. It was widely argued that this favoured pastoralists by enabling them to acquire large estates at moderate expense. Whatever the truth of this, Featherston's avowed aim was to maintain a substantial revenue from land sales. He saw the province's over-riding need as revenue for the promotion of public works and immigration. He never promoted closer settlement with great vigour or enthusiasm, but on the other hand he did everything possible to encourage pastoral development. He himself owned and leased considerable areas of land in the province. In particular, he acquired land in Wairarapa and established a sheep farm there.
Featherston had eight daughters and four sons. Much of the work of raising this family was inevitably left to his wife, Bethia. She once remarked that, 'if I had no children I fancy my chief pleasure would lie in acting as Secretary to my Husband'. But she went on to observe that Featherston 'has rather antiquated ideas about the Rights of Women' and 'seems to have a leaning towards the opinion that the less a wife is seen or heard of in public the more admirable is she in private'. C. W. Richmond found 'the Featherston Ménage…dreary & uncomfortable' and concluded that 'home is not Featherston's centre'. While this judgement seems blunt, it is probably fair to say that public rather than personal concerns engaged Featherston's attention, especially after the death of Bethia on 16 March 1864.
From the mid 1860s Featherston worried about trends that he believed were undermining the provincial system; for example, the consolidation of loans in 1867. In 1866 he predicted the rise of a great provincial party to defend the provinces. So inflexible did he become and so formidable a leader of provincialism was he that it is not surprising that the Fox--Vogel government devised various ways to detach him from national politics after 1869. He was sent to the United Kingdom to negotiate, unsuccessfully, for the retention of two British regiments in New Zealand. While there, however, he secured a British government guarantee of a £1 million loan for roading.
In 1871 Featherston took up appointment as New Zealand's first agent general in London. Much of his work in this position involved recruiting migrants under Vogel's immigration programme. He disliked office work and failed to develop efficient business habits. No doubt this was because of his age and the very different style in which he had hitherto exercised authority. Someone as accustomed as he was to near autocratic power could not adjust to being the servant of the government. If he thought that his instructions were wrong, he ignored or disobeyed them. He left correspondence unanswered and failed to keep the government informed. As a result, he was frequently rebuked. Increasingly his performance was affected by a deterioration in health which culminated in his death on 19 June 1876 at Hove in Sussex, England.
Complex and forceful, Featherston was regarded with awe by his peers. C. W. Richmond said that he was the only one of his political opponents whom he feared. 'He is very persuasive, very resolute, very deep.' Yet in personal relations he was described as being very genial and fond of a joke. Featherston's personality was undoubtedly an asset to him in his career: he was one of the earliest New Zealand politicians to have a popular image. Affection is reflected in the name by which he was commonly known: to the people he helped govern he was 'The Little Doctor'.
David HAMER
Buick, T. L. Old Manawatu. Palmerston North, 1903
[Carter, C. R.] Life and recollections of a New Zealand colonist. 3 vols. London, 1866--75
Dalziel, R. M. The origins of New Zealand diplomacy. Wellington, 1975
Hall, K. H. 'Aspects of the career of Dr Featherston'. MA thesis, Victoria, 1950
Morrell, W. P. The provincial system in New Zealand, 1852--76. 2nd ed. Christchurch, 1964
Stuart, P. Edward Gibbon Wakefield in New Zealand. Wellington, 1971
How TO CITE THIS BIOGRAPHY:
Hamer, David. 'Featherston, Isaac Earl 1813 - 1876'. Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, updated 16 December 2003
URL: http://www.dnzb.govt.nz/
The original version of this biography was published in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography Volume One (1769-1869), 1990
© Crown Copyright 1990-2005. Published by the Ministry for Culture and Heritage, Wellington, New Zealand. All rights reserved.
Life and recollections of a New Zealand colonist by Charles Rooking Carter Volume III p233-234
Mr J. Morrison was an efficient officer, but one who liked the pay better than the work, and who aspired to be "A.G."...
During the first part of the Doctor's [Featherston] term of office as Agent-General he lived at Croyden, ten miles from London. He resided there for twelve months, at the end of which, in the autumn of 1872, he removed his family to Boulougne, and afterwards went over to spend Christmas Day with them. On his return to London the next day he looked ill, and told me he felt very unwell, and continued getting worse till New Year's day, 1873, when he was confined to his apartment which he had furnished as a bedroom, adjoining his office. Soon after this, his condition became daily more critical. While in bed he dictated a telegram to his daughter Fanny, at Ashford in Kent. It was to the effect that he was ill, suffering acute pain, and wished her to come up as soon as she could to see him, and also to go with me to take a house. After this I found a suitable residence in Colville Gardens, Bayswater: still he remained seriously ill at the offices. The late London Agent for the NZ Government, Mr John Morrison, was still with us at a salary of £600 a-year, and the medical adviser of the Agent-General used to come every morning to his patient at the offices.
One morning the Agent-General was worse than usual, and myself and Mr Morrison waited the coming of his medical attendant with unusual anxiety. He came, saw Dr Featherston, and came into the room where we were, and reported that his patient was dangerously ill, and that he might not be able to continue to sign cheques. This was an official duty that the Agent-General, I knew, was most unwilling to delegate to any one else. His medical adviser left, and Mr M.and myself were left
to ponder over the situation. He thought the Agent-General might not recover, and in the midst of our consultation, he suddenly exclaimed:- "Carter, the business of the office must not be stopped, somebody must stand in the breach: I will do it, and the Colony will back me up!" He was ready to sign cheques and quickly step into a dead man's shoes. But the Doctor did not die; he began to recover, and soon after a telegram arrived from the Colony, saying that Mr Morrison's services were to be
dispensed with; and so ended his connection with the office and with New Zealand - out of which he had made a large fortune.
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1814 - 1837 (22 years)
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