Editing Hugh Carleton

{{Short description|New Zealand politician (1810–1890)}}
{{For|the Viscount|Hugh Carleton, 1st Viscount Carleton}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Use New Zealand English|date=August 2014}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|honorific-prefix    = 
|name                = Hugh Carleton
|honorific-suffix    = 
|image               = Hugh Francis Carleton, ca 1870s.jpg
|alt                 = b&w seated portrait photo of a bearded man
|caption             = Carleton, {{circa|1870s}}
|birth_name          = Hugh Francis Carleton
|birth_date          = {{Birth date|1810|07|03|df=y}}
|birth_place         = Ireland
|death_date          = {{Death date and age|1890|07|14|1810|07|03|df=yes}}
|death_place         = [[Lewisham]], Surrey, England
|spouse              = {{marriage|Lydia Jane Williams|1859}}
|order3              = 2nd [[Chairman of Committees (New Zealand House of Representatives)|Chairman of Committees]]
|term_start3         = 1856
|term_end3           = 1870
|predecessor3        = [[Frederick Merriman (politician)|Frederick Merriman]]
|successor3          = [[Maurice O'Rorke]]
| constituency_MP5   = [[Bay of Islands (New Zealand electorate)|Bay of Islands]]
| parliament5        = New Zealand
| majority5          =
| term_start5        = {{NZ election link year|1853}}
| term_end5          = 1870
| predecessor5       = New constituency
| successor5         = In abeyance (title next held by [[Richard Hobbs (politician)|Richard Hobbs]])
| relatives          = {{ubl|[[Henry Williams (missionary)|Henry Williams]] (father-in-law)|[[Hugh Carleton, 1st Viscount Carleton]] (great-uncle)|[[Edward Marsh Williams]] (brother-in-law)|[[Samuel Williams (missionary)|Samuel Williams]] (brother-in-law)|[[Henry Williams (New Zealand politician)|Henry Williams]] (brother-in-law)|{{nowrap|[[Thomas Coldham Williams]] (brother-in-law)}}|[[John William Williams]] (brother-in-law)}}
|religion            =
|profession          = 
}}
'''Hugh Francis Carleton''' (3 July 1810 – 14 July 1890) was a New Zealand journalist and politician. He was New Zealand's first [[member of parliament]].

==Early life==
Carleton was born in 1810. He was the son of Francis Carleton (1780–1870) and Charlotte Margaretta Molyneux-Montgomerie (d. 1874). [[Hugh Carleton, 1st Viscount Carleton]] was the brother of his grandfather, John Carleton. His family was living in Clare, [[County Tipperary]] and then Greenfield, [[County Cork]], Ireland.<ref name=Australasia>{{cite Australasia|Carleton, Hugh Francis}}</ref> He was educated at [[Eton College]] and [[Trinity College, Cambridge]].<ref name="Fitzgerald2011">{{cite book |last1= Fitzgerald |first1= Caroline |title=Te Wiremu: Henry Williams – Early Years in the North |year=2011 |publisher=Huia Publishers |location=New Zealand |isbn=978-1-86969-439-5 |page=xii}}</ref>  He studied law in London, then art in Italy.<ref name="Fitzgerald2011"/>

==Life in New Zealand==
Carleton settled in the [[Bay of Islands]] in 1842.<ref name=Australasia /> On 30 November 1859, he married Lydia Jane Williams, youngest daughter of the missionary [[Henry Williams (missionary)|Henry Williams]] and [[Marianne Williams]]; they had no children.<ref name="DNZB Carleton" /><ref>{{cite news |title=Married |url= https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=DSC18591209.2.8 |access-date=20 August 2012 | work=[[Daily Southern Cross]] |volume=XVI |issue=1277 |date=9 December 1859|page=3}}</ref>

===Journalism career===
Carleton became a journalist in [[Auckland]] and edited the ''New Zealander'' then established the ''Anglo-Maori Warder'', which followed an editorial policy in opposition to Governor [[George Grey]]. In 1856 he became the editor of the ''Southern Cross''.<ref name="Fitzgerald2011"/>

===Political career===
{{NZ parlbox header|nolist=true|align=left}}
{{NZ parlbox
 |start      = {{NZ election link year|1853}}
 |end        = 1855
 |term       = 1st
 |electorate = {{NZ electorate link|Bay of Islands}}
 |party      = Independent politician
}}
{{NZ parlbox
 |start      = {{NZ election link year|1855}}
 |end        = 1860
 |term       = 2nd
 |electorate = Bay of Islands
 |party      = Independent politician
}}
{{NZ parlbox
 |start      = [[1860–1861 New Zealand general election|1861]]<!-- election held on 13 February 1861 -->
 |end        = 1866
 |term       = 3rd
 |electorate = Bay of Islands
 |party      = Independent politician
}}
{{NZ parlbox
 |start      = {{NZ election link year|1866}}
 |end        = 1870
 |term       = 4th
 |electorate = Bay of Islands
 |party      = Independent politician
}}
{{NZ parlbox footer}}
Carleton was a member of New Zealand's [[1st New Zealand Parliament|first]], [[2nd New Zealand Parliament|second]], [[3rd New Zealand Parliament|third]], and [[4th New Zealand Parliament|fourth]] Parliaments, representing the {{NZ electorate link|Bay of Islands}} electorate from 1853 to 1870,<ref name="DNZB Carleton">{{DNZB|Silver|D. B.|1C5|Carleton, Hugh Francis|5 April 2011}}</ref> when he was defeated.{{sfn|Wilson|1985|p=188}} Owing to the system of staggering used in the [[1853 New Zealand general election|first general election]], Carleton was actually the first MP ever elected in New Zealand (though he was elected unopposed), hence he liked to be called the [[Father of the House (New Zealand)|Father of the House]].<ref name="1966 Te Ara Carleton">{{cite book |title=An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand |orig-year=First published in 1966 |publisher=[[Ministry for Culture and Heritage|Ministry for Culture and Heritage / Te Manatū Taonga]] |url= http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/1966/carleton-hugh-francis |last=Littlejohn |first=Charles Philip | editor-first=A. H. |editor-last=McLintock |editor-link=Alexander Hare McLintock |access-date=27 September 2013 |chapter=Carleton, Hugh Francis |date= 23 April 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=The Southern Cross |url= http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=DSC18540526.2.12 |access-date=1 August 2015 |work=[[Daily Southern Cross]] |volume=XI |issue=721 |date=26 May 1854 |page=2}}</ref>

Carleton was the second [[Chairman of Committees (New Zealand House of Representatives)|Chairman of Committees]], succeeding [[Frederick Merriman (politician)|Frederick Merriman]] on 17 April 1856,{{sfn|Wilson|1985|p=251}} i.e. just after the opening of the first session of the [[2nd New Zealand Parliament|2nd Parliament]].{{sfn|Wilson|1985|p=139}} He remained Chairman of Committees until he left Parliament in 1870.{{sfn|Wilson|1985|p=251}}

He had a strong interest in parliamentary procedure, and unsuccessfully lobbied for the position of [[Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives|Speaker]].  He is known for his unsuccessful campaign against the availability of alcoholic beverages at Bellamy's, the parliamentary restaurant.  He was also a critic of the idea that all voting districts should contain the same number of voters, saying that this system gave "a preponderating control" of the political world to one specific class.  He was described as "scholarly" by his allies and "pedantic" by his critics.

==Later life in England==
Carleton returned to England and spent the last ten years of his life there.<ref name="1966 Te Ara Carleton" /> He died at [[Lewisham]], Surrey, England, on 14 July 1890.<ref name="DNZB Carleton" /><ref>{{cite news |url= https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZMAIL18900912.2.50 |title=Deaths |work=New Zealand Mail |issue=967 |date=12 September 1890 |page=16 |access-date=15 January 2022}}</ref> His wife, Lydia, died in [[Napier, New Zealand|Napier]], New Zealand, on 28 November 1891.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Deaths |url= https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZMAIL18911211.2.79 |access-date=23 April 2025 |work=New Zealand Mail |issue=1032 |date=11 December 1891 |page=22}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Deaths |url= https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DTN18911128.2.4 |access-date=23 April 2025 |work=[[The Daily Telegraph (Napier, New Zealand)|The Daily Telegraph]] |issue=6316 |date=28 November 1891 |page=2}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Deaths |url= https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH18911204.2.3 |access-date=23 April 2025 |work=[[The New Zealand Herald]] |volume=XL |issue=9257 |date=5 December 1891 |page=2}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url= https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZTIM18911204.2.5 |volume=LII |issue=9469 | title=Deaths | newspaper=New Zealand Times | date=4 December 1891 | page=2 }}</ref>

==Publications==
* {{Aut|Carleton, Hugh}} (1874) – ''The life of Henry Williams, Archdeacon of Waimate''. Auckland NZ.  [http://www.enzb.auckland.ac.nz/document/1874_-_Carleton,_H._The_Life_of_Henry_Williams,_%5BVol._I._%5D Online available] from [[Early New Zealand Books]] (ENZB).

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
*{{Cite book |last= Wilson |first= James Oakley |title= New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 |edition= 4th |orig-year= First ed. published 1913 |year= 1985 |publisher=V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer |location= Wellington |oclc=154283103}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-off}}
{{s-bef | before = [[Frederick Merriman (politician)|Frederick Merriman]]}}
{{s-ttl
 | title=[[Chairman of Committees (New Zealand House of Representatives)|Chairman of Committees of the House of Representatives]]
 | years=1856&ndash;1870 
}}
{{s-aft | after = [[Maurice O'Rorke]] }}
{{s-par | nz}}
{{s-new | constituency}}
{{s-ttl | title = [[Bay of Islands (New Zealand electorate)|Member of Parliament for Bay of Islands]] | years = 1853&ndash;1870}}
{{s-vac | abeyance | next = [[Richard Hobbs (politician)|Richard Hobbs]] }}
{{end}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carleton, Hugh}}
[[Category:1810 births]]
[[Category:1890 deaths]]
[[Category:Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives]]
[[Category:Unsuccessful candidates in the 1871 New Zealand general election]]
[[Category:New Zealand MPs for North Island electorates]]
[[Category:People educated at Eton College]]
[[Category:Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Irish emigrants to New Zealand]]
[[Category:New Zealand editors]]
[[Category:New Zealand magazine editors]]
[[Category:New Zealand journalists]]
[[Category:19th-century New Zealand politicians]]
[[Category:Williams family (New Zealand)]]