Henry Driver
New Zealand politician (1831–1893)
Henry Driver (1831–23 Jan 1893) was a 19th-century Member of Parliament from Otago, New Zealand.
He was born in the United States, but as a young man emigrated to Victoria, Australia. When the Otago gold rush began in 1861 he established himself as a merchant in Dunedin. Later he joined with John Maclean to form Driver, Maclean & Co., auctioneers.
He represented the Roslyn electorate from 1869 to 1871, when he resigned, and from 1878 to 1881. He then represented the Hokonui electorate from 1881 to 1884, when he retired.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Henry Driver” as new Zealand politician (1831–1893). Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the people & ideas register because the source frames it as new Zealand politician (1831–1893). Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jan 10, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5720474. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1831, 1893, 1861 and 1869.
Public reputation and documentary evidence do not always develop together; absence from a summary is not evidence of historical absence. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.
- Establishing names and roles
- Building a first chronology
- Locating cited institutions
Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Henry Driver”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Henry Driver primary sources, Henry Driver archive and Henry research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Henry Driver”?
- Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
- Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Henry Driver” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.