Vincent Pyke

Vincent Pyke, born Vincent Pike, (4 February 1827 – 5 June 1894) was a 19th-century politician in Otago, New Zealand and Victoria, Australia.

Early life Pyke was born in Shepton Mallet, Somerset, England as Vincent Pike. He married Frances Renwick on 7 September 1846 at Bristol, England; they had four sons and one daughter. He changed the spelling of his surname some time after their wedding.

Australia Pyke and family went to Australia in 1851, first to South Australia and then the gold diggings in Victoria where he spent two years as a miner around Forest Creek, Castlemaine and Fryer's Creek Bendigo

In 1857, Pyke was appointed emigration agent in England in conjunction with the Right Hon. Hugh Childers. He contested the in the electorate, but was beaten by Scobie Mackenzie. He then represented Tuapeka from 1893 to 1894 when he died. He was noted for his loyalty to Clyde and his Central Otago constituents.

Pyke was also a journalist, and wrote two novels about life on the goldfields, Wild Will Enderby (1873) and The Adventures of George Washington Pratt (1874).

Death Pyke died at Lawrence, Otago, and is buried in the Dunedin Northern Cemetery.