Robert Heaton Rhodes
New Zealand politician, 1815-1884
Robert Heaton Rhodes (1815 – 1 June 1884) was a New Zealand politician who represented the Akaroa electorate from 1871 to 1874, when he resigned. He was elected unopposed in 1871.
Biography
Born in 1815 in Rotherham, in the English county of Yorkshire, he followed his brothers, including William Barnard Rhodes, to New Zealand in 1850, having worked in Australia. He lived at Purau and managed properties on Banks Peninsula belonging to the Rhodes brothers. He built a large house in Christchurch, Elmwood, where he died. He founded several early business enterprises, including the New Zealand Shipping Company and the Kaiapoi Woollen Manufacturing Company.
On 24 August 1853, Rhodes stood in the Akaroa electorate for a position in the House of Representatives but was beaten by William Sefton Moorhouse. On 31 August 1853, Rhodes stood in the Akaroa electorate for one of two positions on the Canterbury Provincial Council. Rhodes won the election, but there was a draw for second place, and the returning officer gave his casting vote to Rev. William Aylmer, meaning that Moorhouse was not elected.
The public source identifies “Robert Heaton Rhodes” as new Zealand politician, 1815-1884. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Robert, Heaton and Rhodes.
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Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 12, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7345363. VIAF identifies the subject as 53672644. The Library of Congress control number is nb2006009682. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1815, 1884, 1871 and 1874.
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This entry incorporates text from “Robert Heaton Rhodes” 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.