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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Auckland Provincial District]

Mr. Benjamin Tonks

Mr. Benjamin Tonks was elected on the 4th of August, 1876, to represent Auckland City West in the House of Representatives. The election was almost without precedent. The writ was telegraphed to the Returning Officer, and the nomination took place on a Saturday. At the nomination Mr. Tonks was asked by the electors to proceed to the seat of Government on the following Monday. He did so, and was elected on the Tuesday, and the return to the writ was made by telegram, when he took his seat accordingly. Mr. Tonks, who is elsewhere referred to as first elected Mayor of Auckland, did not take an active part in public affairs during his later years, being too much occupied in his large and increasing business. He was, however, an auditor of the Bank of New Zealand, and a member of the Auckland Waste Lands Board. Mr. Tonks died on the 27th of June, 1884, at the comparatively early age of fifty-two, and left four sons and one daughter. His second son, Mr. William Tonks, is senior partner in the well-known Christchurch firm of Tonks, Norton and Co.