HODGKINSON, SAMUEL (1817-1914) was born at Babworth, Nottingham, and received his education at the Retford day schools and the Collegiate Grammar School at Southwell. At the age of 17 he was apprenticed to Dr Valentine Williams in Nottingham (with whom one of his earliest experiences was a cholera epidemic). On completing his apprenticeship in 1838, Hodgkinson studied at Apothecaries' Hall and the Royal College of Surgeons, London. There he saw something of his relative Millais and of Clement Hodgkinson, his uncle (afterwards an explorer in Australia). In 1840 he gained the diploma of the Society of Apothecaries and membership of the Royal College, and went to Paris to walk the hospitals.

Returning to England he was appointed house surgeon to the Newark-on-Trent hospital and dispensary. While there he became interested in the New Zealand Company, and was appointed surgeon superintendent in the ship Bombay. Arriving in Nelson on 14 Dec 1842, Hodgkinson spent a little time in Wellington, and then took passage to Valparaiso, and joined an American whaler, which landed him in New Bedford in Jun 1843. After travelling for some time in the United States, he returned to England and entered into practice again.

In 1846 he was appointed by the Colonisation Commissioners as surgeon superintendent to the David Malcolm, bound with emigrants to Port Adelaide. From there he went to Port Phillip and Warrnambool, and after spending some time in Victoria he crossed in 1851 to Canterbury (encouraged by the recommendations of Frederick Tuckett and Sir William Martin). Hodgkinson assisted G. D. Lockhart with a shipment of stock and before the year was out took up (in partnership with Hunter Brown) the Deans Peaks and Doctor's Hills stations in north Canterbury (including what is now Waipara downs). By next year they had 1,500 sheep running on 29,000 acres. In 1852 Hodgkinson was compelled by ill-health to visit England, and he published a pamphlet on emigration to Canterbury. In 1855, while he was absent G. H. Moore purchased the run. While in England, Hodgkinson married a granddaughter (who d. 1902) of the Earl of Gosford. He played some part during this visit in persuading William Rolleston to make his home in New Zealand.

Coming to New Zealand in 1857 in the ship Joseph Fletcher, the Hodgkinsons landed at Auckland, and lived for a time at Parnell. They purchased land at Remuera at £30 per acre, and built a cottage. Not caring for the climate of Auckland, Hodgkinson in Jan 1859, with Dr Buchanan, rode from Dunedin to Invercargill, and from there walked with W. H. Pearson to Riverton. He purchased for £1,000 cash J. P. Taylor's Wairaka property, but sold again almost immediately and selected 900 acres at the foot of the Longwoods. He brought his family down in May 1860. In Jun 1861 they moved to Riverton, and Hodgkinson chose the homestead site at Fairfax. The house was built and occupied in the middle of 1862.

When Southland gained separation from Otago Hodgkinson declined to stand for the superintendency. Towards the end of 1864 he was elected to the Provincial Council for Riverton, and he threw in his weight to secure the election of Taylor as Superintendent. He was a member of the executive (1865-66). In 1869 he moved to Invercargill and retired from the Council, entering into medical practice for a short time with Monckton. He fought strenuously against the reunion of Southland with Otago, and re-entered the Council in Sep 1870 with that object. When the province was extinguished Hodgkinson gave up his practice, but devoted much time to education, temperance, and other objects.

In 1876 he was elected to represent Riverton in Parliament, in which he was a staunch supporter of Grey. He did not seek re-election in 1879. In 1887 he was elected for Wallace, which he represented until 1890. His motion for an elective executive was only defeated by 27 votes to 25; he tried to reduce the members' honorarium according to the length of the session; and he took steps to have the grave of Wakefield in Wellington cared for, and to have a portrait of the coloniser hung in the town hall in Invercargill. He continued to be active in Invercargill, sitting on the bench, doing duty as coroner, and on the hospital and charitable aid board (1885) and the education board (1889). He had throughout life a voluminous correspondence with scientific men (including Lecky and Goldwin Smith); and he wrote many pamphlets on social and political topics. As long ago as 1860 he wrote on close settlement versus large estates; and for many years after the passing of the education act in 1877 he advocated Bible reading in state schools. Hodgkinson died on 10 Jan 1914.

Cycl. N.Z., iv (p); Who's Who N.Z., 1908; Hocken; Roberts; Fulton, p 7482 (p); Acland; Southland Times, 11 Jan 1914; Otago Daily Times, 16 Aug 1930 (p). Portrait: Parliament House.

Reference: Volume 1, page 218

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