Thomas Fergus

Thomas Fergus (6 April 1850 or 1851 – 29 September 1914) was a 19th-century New Zealand politician.

Early life Thomas Fergus was born in Ayr, Scotland on 6 April 1850. There is some question as to his date of birth as the New Zealand Government records are two years different from this birth record, and his newspaper obituary gives 1851 as the birth year.

His father was also Thomas Fergus. It is uncertain when his father was born as there is no birth certificate to coincide with the date of 1815, however there is record of him in both 1851 and 1861 census for Scotland, and the age in those suggest that his birth was in 1807.

Family and personal life On 8 July 1874 he married Letticia Mckay at Hampden, North Otago, at the house of her father. They had one daughter, Margaret Annie, born in 1875 at Cromwell, Otago. Letticia died at Hampden on 27 September 1876, aged 22. She is buried in the Hampden cemetery.

On 31 July 1878, he married Margaret MacGregor Reid, daughter of his business partner Donald Reid. The marriage was conducted at Reid's residence Salisbury in North Taieri. They had four daughters, Fanny Stewart Fergus, Annie Grange Fergus (who became a doctor and served overseas during World War One ) Daisy MacGregor Reid Fergus, Elizabeth (Bessie) Barr Fergus.

Political career

Fergus considered standing in the Otago electorate of electorate in the , but decided against it. He represented Wakatipu in Parliament from to 1893, when he retired. He was Minister of Defence (1887–1889), Minister of Justice (1887–1889), Minister of Public Works (1889–1891) and Minister of Education (1889–1891).

Death and commemoration Fergus died on 29 September 1914.