Cathcart Wason

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(John) Cathcart Wason (17 Nov 1849 – 19 Apr 1921) was a Scottish farmer and politician who served as a Member of Parliament in two countries: first in New Zealand and then in Scotland, after the failure of his colonial ventures. An unusually large man (he was over 6 feet 6 inches tall), he is noted both as an innovative farmer and for having passed his time in the House of Commons by knitting^[1].

Born in 1848 or 1849 in Colmonell, near Girvan, South Ayrshire, he was the son of Peter Rigby Wason and his wife Euphemia McTier. Peter Wason was a barrister and a successful farmer who converted much of his Corwar estate from moor to arable land; he had also served as a Member of Parliament. Cathcart Wason, as he was generally known, was educated at Laleham and at Rugby School, before emigrating to Canterbury in New Zealand, in 1868.

[edit] New Zealand

In February 1869, Wason bought a 20,000 acre (80 km²) estate (1,250 of which were freehold) on the south bank of the Rakaia River on New Zealand's South Island, about 17 km from the town of Rakaia. Previously called Lendon, renamed his property Corwar after his father's lands in Scotland, and set about trying to create a model estate.

[edit] Corwar and Barrhill

His planting of pine trees and of oaks, walnuts and poplars extended over 600 acres and allowed shelter from the prevailing north-west winds to allow sheep farming and the growing of wheat, while water power was used for agricultural machinery. He bought and sold land, and by 1882 Corwar was consolidated as a freehold estate of just over 5,000 acres (20 km²) with a large mansion overlooking the river, complete with gate lodge and gate-keeper.

On the estate, Wason built a model village called Barrhill, approached from the north, east, south and west by avenues lined respectively with sycamores, birches, poplars and oaks.^[2] At the centre was a market square, with post office, bakery and other facilities and fifteen cottages were built.

However, Wason had expected a railway to be built near Barrhill, but when it was built on a more southerly route the village began to decline. Dwindling population forced the closure of the school in 1938, although the Church of St John the Evangelist is still in use. Most of the buildings were constructed from pine wood grown on the estate, and all that remains now are the three concrete buildings: church, school and schoolhouse, each surrounded by a circle of oak trees. ^[3]. The Barrhill Village Preservation Society now offers walks around the area.^[4]

Without the railway, Wason saw his project as doomed, and sold up in 1900. The mansion was burned down soon after and all that remains is the gate lodge, now the home of the Corwar Lodge Museum, displaying artefacts of the colonial era.

[edit] New Zealand political career

Wason was elected to the New Zealand House of Representatives in the 1876 election for the electorate (constituency) of Coleridge and was appointed as a government whip the following year. He was MP for Wakanui from 1881-82, but when the election was declared invalid he did not stand again until the 1893 election, when he ran unsuccessfully in the Ashburton constituency. He was elected as MP for Selwyn in the 1896-99 Parliament.

Wason travelled overseas on several occasions, marrying Alice Seymour Bell, in Sydney, Australia on 18 June 1873. In 1886 was he elected a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society in London, and in 1887 he followed his father and brother and was called to the Bar at the Middle Temple, but did not practise.

[edit] Return to Scotland

Wason sold his New Zealand estate in 1900 and returned to Scotland, where he was elected as Liberal Unionist Member of Parliament for Orkney and Shetland in the 1900 general election, and bought a house in London and a property in Ayrshire not far from the original Corwar. He resigned his seat in 1902 and successfully stood for re-election in the by-election as an Independent Liberal. He was re-elected as a member of the Liberal Party in the subsequent general elections in 1906, January 1910, December 1910 and 1918.

His brother Eugene Wason was also an MP, and chairman of the Scottish Liberal MPs from 1908 to 1918.

Cathcart Wason continued to sit as MP for Orkney and Shetland until his death in London on 19 April 1921. He is believed to have had no children.

[edit] Publications

• Wason, John Cathcart (1905). East Africa and Uganda: or, Our Last Land, preface by Sir Harry Johnston, G.C.M.G., London: Francis Griffiths. 
• Wason, John Cathcart (1915). The Kaiser’s Responsibility. Address given at the Congregational Church, West Hampstead, on May 2nd, 1915. London: P. S. King & Son. ; later re-published in revised form as "The Beast".

[edit] Sources

• New Zealand Dictionary of Biography: John Cathcart Wason
• http://www.interwrx.com/bobwason/Biography/Wason/JoCa1848.html

[edit] External links

• Canterbury-West Coast: Historical Societies and Heritage Support Groups: includes contact details for The Barrhill-Corwar Lodge Preservation Society

[edit] Notes

1. ^ Obituary of Peter Wason, grand-nephew of Cathcart Wason
2. ^ Some sources are unclear on whether the avenues were actually planted, but Let's Go NZ suggests that they were.
3. ^ The Best Of Geraldine: Tourist information on the area around Barhill
4. ^ New Zealand Walking and Adventure Festival

[edit] Offices held

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Sir Leonard Lyell	Member of Parliament for Orkney and Shetland 1900–1921	Succeeded by Sir Malcolm Smith