17 Facts About Thomas Bracken

Thomas Bracken wrote "God Defend New Zealand", one of the two national anthems of New Zealand, and was the first person to publish the phrase "God's Own Country" as applied to New Zealand.

Thomas Bracken won the Otago Caledonian Society's prize for poetry.

Thomas Bracken was sent to Australia at the age of 12 to join his uncle, John Kiernan, at Geelong, Victoria.

Thomas Bracken established Thomas Bracken and Co with Alexander Bathgate to buy and operate the Evening Herald until it was superseded in 1890 by the liberal Globe.

In early 1869, at the age of 25, Thomas Bracken moved to Dunedin in New Zealand, where a volume containing a selection of poems he had written in Australia was published.

Thomas Bracken wrote for the Morning Herald and the Catholic The New Zealand Tablet.

Thomas Bracken was born into a Catholic family, but lapsed, and was a freethinker and a freemason.

Thomas Bracken became editor and immediately began to encourage local writers; the Advertiser's circulation reached 7,000 copies which was a notable achievement for that era.

Thomas Bracken had arrived in New Zealand when colonial troops were engaged in war with Te Kooti, who went into battle under his own distinctive flag.

Thomas Bracken never explained what he meant, so there is no definitive clarification today.

That is impossible because Proxima Centauri, the third star in Alpha Centauri, was not discovered until 1915, some 39 years after Thomas Bracken wrote his anthem.

Vitally interested in current events and politics, Thomas Bracken stood for Parliament in the City of Dunedin electorate in the 1879 election.

Thomas Bracken won the Dunedin Central electorate at the 1881 election.

Thomas Bracken lost the seat by three votes to James Bradshaw at the 1884 election, but when Bradshaw died in 1886, he won the 1886 by-election and resumed his seat until the end of the term in 1887, when he retired.

Thomas Bracken was not a prudent person and eventually became financially embarrassed.

Thomas Bracken became a bill reader in Parliament in May 1894, but was forced to leave Wellington and return to Dunedin when his health deteriorated.

Thomas Bracken died on the night of 16 February 1898, and is buried in the Dunedin Northern Cemetery.