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Canterbury-1850 to 1857

The ships arrived on Dec. 16/50 bringing all the material for the "Lyttelton Times" newspaper, which was published for the first time on January 11/51 pursuant to an announcement by circular issued three days earlier. The paper was owned by Shrimpton and was for two years edited by FitzGerald, who also occupied the offices of Immigration Agent and Inspector of Police.

As bearing upon the prudence of his administration of the last mentioned office it is said that, while walking with his half brother, Gerald George FitzGerald, they overtook an escaped prisoner who waved above his head a hand saw with which he threatened to resist capture. The Inspector of Police called upon his brother "in the Queen's name" to arrest the absconder which the civilian expressed himself as entirely willing to do if the military arm would first remove the hand saw. As the result of an excusable disagreement upon this aspect of the case, the prisoner is said to have made good his escape.

Mr Godley returned to England in December '52 and in '53 FitzGerald was elected as the first Superintendent of the Province of Canterbury, opening the first Legislative Council on September 27th of the same year. About the same time or prior to leaving the Colony in '58 he took up the "Springs" Station to which reference is made elsewhere.

The First Parliament of New Zealand was summoned by Col. Wynyard-the officer administering the government of the Colony-at Auckland in '54.

FitzGerald, then member for Lyttelton, was invited to form a Cabinet, which he did with Mr Weld and Mr Sewell as his colleagues, and with sundry permanent officers of the Govt, as part of his executive. This convenient method of administration broke down almost immediately, because Col. Wynyard declined to accept the advice of the so-called responsible ministers upon the degree of responsibility to be accorded to the executive. As soon as it became known that the se-called "responsible government" was to be merely an extended form of administration by page 5 the representative of the Crown, the ministry resigned and were succeeded by others who for the time were less insistent upon the policy defined by their predecessors.

FitzGerald had striven for a truly responsible government instead of the sham government put forward by the administrating officer as "responsible", and the present constitution, which was granted some two years later, was very largely due to the exertions of the first executive. It is very remarkable to note that in these early days the pioneers of the Colony had a complete grasp of the principles of the kind of government they advocated, and a conviction that no other kind of government would satisfy the requirements of the Colony-a judgment which subsequent experience has shown to be sound and accurate.

In connection with this matter, which at the time was one of paramount concern to the colonists, it is astonishing to find that Mr Wakefield, who with Mr Swainson was advising the administrator, should have lent the weight of his valued judgment and mature experience to aid his principal in resisting the strenuous demands of the responsible government party, when it is remembered that his magnificent work in Canada had been consummated by the acceptance of his broadminded and liberal policy of an exactly opposite character. This alleged change in Wakefield's principles, and his apparent forsaking of the responsible government party, led to a regrettable breach with FitzGerald which was never healed.

Illness caused FitzGerald's retirement from politics in '57 when William Sefton Moorhouse succeeded him as Superintendent, and he left for England via Australia late in '58 taking his wife and four children (the youngest-the writer hereof-then only a few weeks old) in a small schooner called the "Speedy" which took over six weeks to reach Australia.