52 Ancestors - Week 15 - Taxes - Charles Woolcock M.H.R.
Taxes and not paying tax on time are the main reasons my great great grandfather, Charles Woolcock, is remembered in the annals of New Zealand parliamentary history. (Charles is sure to appear again this year as he is my most interesting ancestor.) If you read my blog about Sister Lydia Woolcock last week, you may remember that I mentioned her father, Charles, had fled to New Zealand in 1864 and that he had “aspirations”. Those aspirations, I suspect, were social status and power. I'd like to think he too wanted social change. Within ten years of his arrival in New Zealand, Charles had moved away from farming and had set up a very successful store on the Greymouth goldfields. He had also sought political office, becoming a borough councillor, a member of the Provincial Council, then Provincial Secretary and Secretary for Public Works in the Province of Westland. His next step was to become a Member of the House of Representatives. He was duly elected in November 1875. ...