Thomas Bracken

Thomas Bracken ( December 1843 – 16 February 1898) was an Irish-born New Zealand poet, journalist and politician. He wrote "God Defend New Zealand", one of the two national anthems of New Zealand, and was the first person to publish the phrase "God's Own Country" as applied to New Zealand. He also won the Otago Caledonian Society's prize for poetry.

Determined to enter journalism, Bracken took a staff position on the Otago Guardian. While at the Guardian he met John Bathgate who soon after, in 1875, established the Saturday Advertiser "to foster a national spirit in New Zealand and encourage colonial literature". Bracken also wrote for the Morning Herald and the Catholic The New Zealand Tablet. He was born into a Catholic family, but lapsed, and was a freethinker and a freemason.

Bracken was not a prudent person and eventually became financially embarrassed. He became a bill reader in Parliament in May 1894, but was forced to leave Wellington and return to Dunedin when his health deteriorated.

Death

Bracken died on the night of 16 February 1898, and is buried in the Dunedin Northern Cemetery. A lookout nearby, with views across the city, is named in his honour.