50 Facts About Joseph Brittan

Joseph Brittan was a New Zealand surgeon, newspaper editor, and provincial councillor, was one of the dominant figures in early Christchurch.

Joseph Brittan soon got involved in the usual activities of early settlers and gained prominence in doing so.

Joseph Brittan had bought 100 acres on 10 July 1851 and took up 50 of this to the east of Christchurch that he converted to farmland.

The members of the Joseph Brittan family were devout Anglicans and had a close association with the neighbouring Holy Trinity Avonside, where Guise Joseph Brittan was a lay reader.

Joseph Brittan was a member of the Canterbury Provincial Council for just over three years.

Joseph Brittan served as Provincial Secretary from 1855 to 1857 and was expected to succeed James FitzGerald as the second Superintendent of the Canterbury Province, but was beaten by William Sefton Moorhouse in October 1857.

Joseph Brittan established the third newspaper in Canterbury, the Canterbury Standard, which existed for 12 years until shortly before Brittan's death.

Joseph Brittan was a very eloquent speaker, but he had a biting and sarcastic character, and was disliked, and even feared, by some.

Joseph Brittan died at his homestead in October 1867 after a long period of declining health.

Joseph Brittan was born on 12 January 1806 in Bristol, England, into a respectable middle-class family that originated in Bristol.

Joseph Brittan married his deceased wife's sister Sophia as his second wife.

Joseph Brittan intended to marry in Denmark where it was legal and the necessary documents for the application were eventually collected and countersigned by the lord Mayor of London on 1 September 1851.

Guise Brittan had married Louisa Chandler, a sister of Joseph's wives.

Also on board was some livestock brought by Joseph Brittan, including a Devon cow, ducks, geese, pheasants, and some rabbits.

Joseph Brittan bought rural section 300, a triangular piece of land of 50 acres along Canal Reserve, with the northern tip of the land touching the Avon River.

Joseph Brittan leased the adjacent RS 301, which he later purchased.

Joseph Brittan converted the land in Avonside to farming, with 10 acres set aside for a homestead, garden and orchard.

Joseph Brittan called the property Linwood after his place in Hampshire.

The entire Brittan family had a close connection to the church, with Joseph Brittan helping to raise money for its construction, and Mary Brittan singing in the church choir.

Joseph Brittan had sundry interests and immediately upon arriving in Christchurch, joined others in various activities.

Joseph Brittan played cricket in Hagley Park within a fortnight of reaching Christchurch, and later helped improve the grounds and raised money for fencing the area.

Joseph Brittan pursued horse racing, later bred horses, and hosted Canterbury's first steeplechase on his Linwood farm.

The Brittans enjoyed music, and not only did Sophia play her piano brought from England, but Joseph played a portable harmonium.

Joseph Brittan joined a musical group in the port town of Lyttelton, which in the early years was culturally more important than Christchurch, and walked there over the Bridle Path with his instrument strapped to his back.

Joseph Brittan was part of a ten-member syndicate that in February 1862 attempted to formalise the ownership of another Christchurch newspaper, The Press, which had been founded in the previous year.

Joseph Brittan first stood for public office in 1855, when membership of the Canterbury Provincial Council was expanded and various seats across many electorates became available.

For weeks campaigning filled the newspapers, with candidates using derogatory language towards each other, and Joseph Brittan being accused of "assiduously frequenting the public houses".

Joseph Brittan resigned as Provincial Secretary in February 1857 and was succeeded by Richard Packer, but remained on the Provincial Council until the end of the first term in July 1857, when he did not seek re-election.

Robert Heaton Rhodes offered a requisition to Joseph Brittan to make himself available for the by-election that would result from FitzGerald's resignation from Parliament in the Lyttelton electorate, but Joseph Brittan replied that he could not absent himself from his private affairs as yet; Parliament at that time met in Auckland, and the 1858 session lasted from 10 April to 21 August, which required an absence from home for several months.

The public generally expected that Joseph Brittan would succeed FitzGerald as Superintendent, but this did not transpire.

Joseph Brittan became a candidate for the position when he published his political views in a long letter that appeared in almost all editions of the bi-weekly Lyttelton Times over a period of several months.

William Richmond, who visited from Taranaki during the election campaign, remarked that "Joe Joseph Brittan is a much cleverer man than Moorhouse who seems a softie".

Moorhouse was a strong proponent of the project, whilst Joseph Brittan was opposed to it.

Joseph Brittan declined the requisition, mostly because he was opposed to the rail tunnel scheme which had overwhelming support by the population, and he could not see himself being their representative if he disagreed with this popular public opinion.

Isaac Cookson, who had earlier supported the Joseph Brittan requisition, was elected.

The election was held the next day, and Joseph Brittan topped the polls with 140 votes, followed by Isaac Cookson with 139, Frederick Thompson with 114, and Richard Westenra with 100, these being the men who were elected.

At the election in May 1862, Joseph Brittan again topped the poll, with Isaac Cookson and Richard Westenra being re-elected, and Samuel Bealey being elected.

Joseph Brittan was succeeded by James Somerville Turnbull, who was elected unopposed.

In mid-1863, Joseph Brittan was appointed resident magistrate for Christchurch and Kaiapoi, succeeding John Hall.

Joseph Brittan had six children, all with his first wife; two died in childhood in England.

Joseph Brittan stayed for some years with the Fooks family in Timaru.

Tragedy struck on 1 January 1862, when Arthur Joseph Brittan drowned in the Avon River while learning to swim.

Joseph Brittan got entangled in watercress, which the Brittans themselves had introduced to the Avon, and it took a half-hour for his body to be recovered.

Joseph Brittan was heartbroken and there are indications that he went through a period of depression.

Sophia Joseph Brittan was often ill, and health was a dominant issue in her life.

Joseph Brittan had his problems, suffering from frequent headaches and gout, and together with financial trouble, he was often irritable and impatient.

Joseph Brittan died on 27 October 1867 at Linwood House.

Joseph Brittan was buried at Holy Trinity Avonside next to his son Arthur, and when Sophia Brittan died in August 1877 she was buried near her husband.

Brittan's oldest son Joseph died in 1924, and an inscription for him was placed on his father's grave stone.

Linwood House, which fronted onto both Linwood Avenue and Joseph Brittan Street, was registered by Heritage New Zealand as a class D heritage building in 1982, and with a change of the classification system later, it later became a Category II listing.