IRELAND, GEORGE (1829-80) was born in north Ireland of Scots extraction, educated there and emigrated to the colonies. (Ross says Ireland was not his real name and that he had been an army officer.) He was at Gabriel's Gully (1861), the Dunstan and the Molyneux; and eventually left goldmining and settled down as a schoolmaster at Roxburgh. He was a well-read, serious-minded man and though a Wesleyan, acted as secretary of the provisional committee before the appointment of the first Presbyterian minister (1868). After giving up the school he returned to mining and held a claim at Roxburgh until his death.

Ireland was member of the Provincial Council for Mt Benger (1873-75). In 1879 he was nominated by the miners as a Liberal to oppose the runholders' candidate for the Waikaia seat in Parliament and was elected. He died on 15 Aug 1880.

Don; Ross; Evening Star, 16 Aug 1880; N.Z. Times, 10 Sep 1880. Portrait: Parliament House.

Reference: Volume 1, page 230

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