DICK, THOMAS (1823-1900) was born at Edinburgh. A few years later his parents removed to London, but as soon as he was old enough Dick returned to his native city, where he remained until the age of 15. He then entered the office of John Roberts, merchant, of London. When he had been 12 years with this firm he was sent to St Helena as agent for the Fenchurch Street firm of James Morrison and Co. There he married (1850) Miss Darling. Throughout life Dick revelled in religious movements and work amongst the poor. In London he worked earnestly in the slums, especially in connection with the ragged schools in Stepney and in Sunday school work. At St Helena, where he spent seven years, he joined the Baptist congregation and he remained a Baptist throughout, though for many years he was a pillar of the Presbyterian Church in Dunedin. In the little island also he took a great interest in evangelical work and in the Sunday school movement, and in later years in Dunedin he spent many a Sunday afternoon in company with Dr Stuart, distributing tracts amongst miners.

In 1857, with his wife and young children, Dick arrived in Dunedin by the ship Bosworth, primarily as the agent for Morrisons. Before long he established himself as an auctioneer in Dunedin and when the goldfields opened the business expanded into a general agency. Although he arrived in Dunedin late in 1857 he was elected unopposed only a year later to a seat in the Provincial Council for Dunedin City. In 1859 he became a member of Reynolds's executive. At the general election in 1860 he was returned at the head of the poll for Dunedin, and he was again in the executive for a few months that year. One of his first acts in the Provincial Council was to secure a vote of £1,000 for the Athenaeum and Mechanics Institute. In Apr 1862 he moved a vote of no-confidence in the Cutten-Walker administration, and took office himself as provincial secretary. At the general election in 1863 he was again at the head of the poll, but he resigned his portfolio shortly after the meeting of the Council. He was again in the executive in 1863-64 and in 1865. In Aug 1865 Harris resigned the superintendency and Dick stood against E. McGlashan, whom he defeated by 990 to 565. It was not altogether a happy experience. There was lack of harmony between Superintendent and Council, and a good deal of friction between the central and provincial authorities.

Meanwhile Dick also represented his fellow citizens in the General Assembly. Reluctant to enter Parliament, he had a habit of resigning his seat on the slightest indication of lack of confidence, but he was almost invariably re-elected. First elected for Dunedin at the end of 1860, he resigned in 1862; was elected again and resigned in 1863. Elected for Port Chalmers (Mar 1866) he took a strong stand in Parliament against the attempt to filch certain license fees from the municipality of Dunedin. When the members representing Otago returned from Wellington (Oct 1866) there was a strong feeling that they had not done what they might have done to protect the interests of the province. A public meeting in Dunedin called upon them to resign. Two of the fifteen did so-Dick and Reynolds. Dick was returned unopposed, but resigned a few months later. In the meantime his term as Superintendent had come to a close, and in Feb 1867 he was defeated by Macandrew by 2259 votes to 1392.

Retiring from Parliament in Jul, he remained out of political life for a few years. Mrs Dick having died in 1869, Dick married the widow of Frederick Walker (q.v.) who had been a fellow passenger in the Bosworth. In 1879 he again went into Parliament (as a member for Dunedin City, with R. Oliver and W. Downie Stewart as colleagues). In Mar 1880 he joined the Hall ministry as Colonial Secretary, and later assumed also the portfolios of Education and Justice. At the general election (Dec 1881) he was elected for Dunedin West (defeating Downie Stewart by 459 to 451 votes). He continued to administer his old departments in the Whitaker ministry, taking in addition the Postmaster-generalship (1882). When Atkinson came into office (Sep 1883) he retained the services of Dick as Colonial Secretary and Minister of Education until the general election in 1884, when Dick was defeated by Stewart by 504 votes to 480. At the election of 1887 he was again defeated by Stewart (by 708 votes to 695).

There he chose to terminate his political life, declining a seat in the upper house, and confining his attention to local affairs. He was for some years a member of the Otago education board, and from 1860 of the waste land board. From 1858-60 he was on the Dunedin town board. He was secretary of the Dunedin Waterworks Co. from its formation, and for many years was treasurer of the Dempsey Trust.

When Dick came to Dunedin there was no Baptist congregation, so he became an active member of First Church and a teacher in the Sunday school. He was a promoter of Knox Church, and a member of the first board of trustees, but (not being a Presbyterian) declined to take office. In 1863 the Baptist Church in Hanover street was opened by the Rev J. L. Parsons as first pastor. Dick was a trustee. He began a Sunday school in the Planet sawmill, and was its superintendent until his death. He was one of the founders, and the first secretary, of the Otago Bible Society (1864), and he was vice-president of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals when it was founded (1882). From 1860 he was on the visiting committee of the hospital.

Dick for some years lived a retired life owing to persistent ill-health. He died on 5 Feb 1900.

Otago P.C. Proc.; Cycl. NZ, iv. (p); Hocken; McIndoe; Cox, Men of Mark; Otago Daily Times, 6 Feb 1900, 23 May 1930 (p). Portrait: Parliament House.

Reference: Volume 1, page 119

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