George Ross (farmer)
George Arthur Emilius Ross (some sources say Aemilius, Æmilius,[1] or Emileus;[a] 1829 – 23 November 1876) was a New Zealand farmer and provincial politician.
A cultured and well-educated man, he suffered a breakdown while at Oxford University and relocated to Christchurch for health reasons before he finished his degree.
Well-liked as an individual, he was chaotic as a businessman and went bankrupt after a harsh winter in 1867 that caused great loss of stock.
He suffered a mental breakdown and disappeared from public life thereafter, with his young wife, Sibella, sustaining the family by running a school that her parents had financed for them.
[5] From c. 1860, Ross and Harper bought the Lake Coleridge Station from Dr Alfred Barker and in 1864, they relocated the homestead that belonged to that run.
[8] Ross and Harper leased the Mt Fourpeaks and the Clayton stations and the associated sheep from Edward Louis Clogstoun and the Walker brothers (Lancelot and Sherbroke).
[12] Ross's homestead (Stoneycroft) and land near the Riccarton Race Course and his West Melton property were put up for auction by the mortgagee in October 1867.
[6] Peter Halkett, a fellow runholder and cousin who sometimes had business dealings with Ross wrote that he was "unbusinesslike and kept no books but trusted to notes and to his good memory".
[20] As clerk of the provincial council, Ross was their returning officer and in that function, he advertised on 10 July officially announcing the by-election, with the nomination of candidates set for 20 July and, if needed, an election to be held the following day, with the woolshed of his station as the venue for the nomination meeting and as one of two polling booths.
[27][28] John Ollivier formed the eleventh Executive Council on 21 November 1859 and Ross was again appointed to it but without taking a formal office.
A result of this by-election was not reported by the Lyttelton Times, but Guy Scholefield records Ross's re-election date as 26 December 1859.
[21] Ross remained a member of the provincial council until the end of the term on 24 July 1861,[24] but did not stand in the next election in September 1861; he was succeeded in the Rakaia electorate by John Studholme.
[21][32] Studholme retired at the end of the term in March 1862 and Ross stood for re-election to the fourth council in the Rakaia electorate.
[21][33] On 4 December 1863, the fifteenth Canterbury Provincial Executive Council was formed and Ross was appointed without office.
Ross was appointed his successor as treasurer effective 1 April 1865 and, given that it was a paid role, he resigned his membership of the provincial council on the same day.
[21][35] The representation of the Rakaia electorate was contested in the resulting by-election, with Francis Stewart defeating Edward Cephas John Stevens.
Charles Bowen (a member of the Provincial Council) and Cecilia Wilson (Sibella's younger sister) were witnesses.
[53][54] Stoneycroft homestead also still exists, but it is no longer the original house and the property is also known under other names (most commonly Hornby Lodge but also Morley's).
