Charles John Johnston

The Honourable Sir Charles John Johnston
In Speaker's robes
14th Speaker of the Legislative Council
In office 1915–1918
Preceded by	Charles Bowen
Succeeded by	Walter Carncross
Personal details
Born	(1845-10-11)11 October 1845 Wellington, New Zealand
Died	13 June 1918(1918-06-13) (aged 72) Wellington, New Zealand
Political party	Independent

Charles John Johnston (11 October 1845 – 13 June 1918) was the Mayor of Wellington, New Zealand in 1890, the Jubilee year. He was Speaker of the Legislative Council for the last three years of his life.

Biography

He was born 11 October 1845 in Wellington, the son of merchant John Johnston. He was educated at Wellington Commercial and Grammar School, and was later educated in England at the Catholic College of St. Mary in Derbyshire, and at Kensington Grammar School in London. He returned to NZ in 1864 and entered Johnston & Co who were ship owners and merchants. His family was descended from the Johnstons of Annandale, through the Ayrshire Branch of the family.^[1]

He joined the volunteers and when the Wellington Brigade was formed was appointed to the rank of Captain. When he moved to the active-reserve he was appointed Captain-Commandant. Two of his eight sons were killed in action in World War I, Brigadier-General Francis Earl Johnston and Captain Octavius Featherston Johnston. Another four of his sons also served in World War I - Guy, Charles, Harold and Ian Johnston. Johnston also had three daughters - Zoë, Alice and Doris. Zoë was also widowed on the death of her husband William Fitzgerald Levin from injuries suffered at Gallipoli.

He represented the Te Aro electorate from 1881 to 1887, when he resigned.^[2] He was a member of the Legislative Council from 1891 until his death in 1918,^[3] and the Speaker from 1915 to 1918.^[4] He was appointed from 22 January 1891 as one of seven new members (including Harry Atkinson himself) appointed to the Council by the outgoing fourth Atkinson Ministry; a move regarded by Liberals as a stacking of the upper house against the new government.

He married Alice Margaret Featherston, daughter of Isaac Featherston, at Wellington on 12 Jan 1871. He died in Wellington on 13 June 1918 after a prolonged illness.

Posthumously knighted.

A brother Walter Woods Johnston was also an MP.^[5]

His fourth son, Harold Featherston Johnston (1875–1959), became a judge of the Supreme Court and was appointed King's Counsel in 1930.^[6] Upon the death of Charles Skerrett in 1929, the position of Chief Justice was offered to Harold Johnston, who declined the offer, and Michael Myers became the next Chief Justice instead.^[7] Harold Johnston unsuccessfully stood for the Reform Party in the 1929 by-election in the Hutt electorate.^[8]

Notes

References

• Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First published in 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103. 
• No Mean City by Stuart Perry (1969, Wellington City Council) includes a paragraph and a portrait or photo for each mayor.

Mayors of Wellington City
Mayors	elected by councillors George Hunter William Guyton Joseph Dransfield Charles Borlase William Sefton Moorhouse elected at large William Hutchison Joseph Dransfield George Allen William Hutchison George Fisher Arthur Winton Brown Samuel Brown John Duthie Charles Johnston Arthur Winton Brown Francis Bell Alfred Brandon Charles Luke George Fisher Francis Bell John Blair John Aitken Thomas William Hislop Alfred Newman Thomas Wilford David McLaren John Luke Robert Wright Charles Norwood George Troup Thomas Hislop Will Appleton Rob Macalister Frank Kitts Michael Fowler Ian Lawrence James Belich Fran Wilde Mark Blumsky Kerry Prendergast Celia Wade-Brown Justin Lester
Mayoral elections	Annual term 1875 1876† 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 Biennial term 1899 1901 1903† 1905 1907 1909 1910‡ 1911† 1912‡ 1913 1915 1917† 1919 1921 1923 1925 1927 1929 1931 1933† Triennial term 1935 1938 1941 1944 1947 1950 1953 1956 1959 1962 1965 1968 1971 1974 1977 1980 1983 1986 1989 1992 1995 1998 2001 2004 2007 2010 2013 2016
† Elected unopposed · ‡ By-election