BRANDON, ALFRED DE BATHE (1809-86) was born in London, educated for the law and had practised for some time, when, at the age of thirty years, he took his passage for New Zealand in the London (700 tons) (Aug 1840). Mrs Brandon died shortly after their arrival, and he married again (1854) Miss Poole. Brandon commenced practice at Brandon's corner, almost opposite the present Government Buildings. For many years he was crown prosecutor. In 1863 he took in as partner J. S. Moore (q.v.), who soon withdrew to accept a seat on the Supreme Court bench. In 1870 he took in W. H. Quick, and they practised together until 1875, when A. de B. Brandon, junior (q.v.) joined the firm.

Brandon was a member of the Settlers' Constitutional Association. Shortly after the provincial councils were set up he was appointed provincial solicitor, and with short intermissions he held this office throughout the long superintendency of Featherston. Wakefield's opposition to Featherston developed into a feud, and for some years the affairs of the province were held up by opposition in the Council. The Council supported Wakefield, who insisted in the name of responsible government that an executive of his nomination should take office as the Superintendent's advisers. For a short space Brandon and his colleagues stood down and Wakefield's colleagues were nominally in charge. A dissolution and a general election brought Featherston back to power with a majority, and thenceforward politics moved more smoothly.

Brandon was a member of the Provincial Council throughout the whole period of its existence - 1853-76. He sat part of the time for the Wellington Country constituency and for the remainder as the representative of Porirua. The same constituencies sent him to the House of Representatives from 1858 until he sought retirement in 1881. Two years later he was called to the Legislative Council, in which he sat until his death on 22 Sep 1886. Few public men were so continuously acceptable in politics. He was a staunch provincialist and in the colonial sphere an opponent of Stafford. He supported whole-heartedly Weld's self-reliant policy and thereafter gave his adherence to Fox until 1870, when the Vogel policy drove him into a critical opposition. He voted against the government in 1872.

Apart from politics Brandon took a great interest in education. He was the first chairman of the board of governors of Wellington College. In business life he was intimately connected with substantial companies and was for years a director of the Colonial Insurance Co. and the Australian Mutual Provident Society. He was president of the Wellington Club and of the Wellington Law Society.

Wellington P.C. Proc.; Ward (p); N.Z. Times, 23 Sep 1886; Evening Post, 11 Sep 1929 (p).

Reference: Volume 1, page 61

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