The Outhwaite family were early settlers in Auckland, New Zealand and were a prominent family in Auckland in the first 85 years of the city's existence. They made substantial contributions to the legal, administrative, musical, literary, artistic, social and sporting life of the city. They were also important in the establishment and growth of the Catholic Church in Auckland and through their social and philanthropic activities. Their influence still continues, especially in respect of their donation of two areas of land in the central Auckland suburb of Grafton which are now Outhwaite Park and St Peter's College. The family also enabled the creation of a conservation reserve in the Hen and Chicken Islands.
Thomas Outhwaite Thomas Outhwaite was born at Ormside Hall in Westmorland in 1805 and later lived in Preston. He practised as a solicitor in Paris before coming to New Zealand in 1841 on the ship, the Tyne, with the first Chief Justice of New Zealand, the Hon Sir William Martin and Hon William Swainson, the second Attorney-General of New Zealand. While on board, they worked on the drafting of the ordinances which would be necessary to establish the Supreme Court and its procedure.
Thomas Outhwaite was formally appointed by Lord John Russell of the Colonial Office as Registrar of the Supreme Court (now the High Court of New Zealand)John Stacpoole, p. 13. and was the first person to hold that position (apart from Robert Fitzgerald, a planter from the West Indies who had, without the permission of the Colonial Office, just been appointed by Governor Hobson and who resigned in favour of Outhwaite) which he took up on 1 January 1842.Thomas Outhwaite, G H Scholefield, A Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, Department of Internal Affairs, Wellington, 1940, p. 140.The Cyclopedia of New Zealand, a Vanity press, states (in "Thomas Outhwaite", The Cyclopedia of New Zealand, The Cyclopedia Company Limited, Christchurch, 1902, Volume 2, p. 274) that one of Outhwaite's "most exciting experiences" was during the trial of a Māori man for murder when 100 of the accused's supporters "... came rushing up the totally unformed street, shaking spears and brandishing tomohawks above their heads to rescue [the accused] from the clutches of the law. And they did rescue him, while the court sat petrified, unable to avert the lawless deed or arrest the doers, ... [this] in the very heart of the capital of the country. The Cyclopedia also stated that in 1843, Thomas Outhwaite, in company with Sir William Martin and Henry St. Hill, M.L.C. (Member of the Legislative Council), returned to Auckland overland on foot from Wellington, where they had gone on the Government brig "Victoria" (a three-week sea voyage), to hold a session of the court. The return trip occupied a period of six weeks. Outhwaite also conducted a practice as a Barrister and was "the foremost Auckland lawyer".RCJ Stone, The Making of Russell McVeagh, Auckland University Press, 1991, p. 4. From 1844 Thomas Russell was his articled clerk for seven years and later became his partner and took over his practice."Pars about People: Tom Russell", Observer, Volume XXIV, Issue 52, 10 September 1904, Page 4. (Retrieved 1 March 2018) When Thomas Outhwaite retired in 1869, Sir George Arney, the second Chief Justice of New Zealand, paid tribute to Outhwaite's extraordinary firmness, patience, discretion and self-command."Death of Mr Thomas Outhwaite", The New Zealand Herald, Monday, 21 July 1879, p. 3. Outhwaite was also an active Auckland property developer and investor. For example, in 1874, he purchased William Swainson's "upper paddock" next to St Stephen's Chapel, Judges Bay and this area was cut up into numerous small building allotments.John Stacpoole, p. 145.
Outhwaite was a very well-qualified musician. He had a fine tenor voice and, while in Paris, he had sung publicly. He had also studied the flute and the theory of music in harmony and counterpoint.C. P. Hutchison Q.C., Some Founding Fathers of Practice, from Robin Cooke Q.C., Portrait of a Profession, The Centennial Book of the New Zealand Law Society, Reed, Wellington, 1969, pp. 206 and 207. He played both the piano and the violinJohn Stacpoole, p. 48 and was the founder and conductor of the Sacred Harmonic Society, a forerunner of the Auckland Choral Society.Adrienne Simpson, Hallelujahs & History: Auckland Choral 1855–2005, Auckland Choral, 2005, p. 10. Thomas Outhwaite delivered a lecture on 23 May 1843 on the History of Music with the principles he expounded being illustrated by the Philharmonic Society. This lecture appears to have engendered an interest in music in Auckland. He conducted the Philharmonic Society's orchestra and the Choral Society until 1852. He also acted as a conductor of church choirs. He was an enthusiastic supporter of the Auckland Mechanics Institute, of which he was vice-president, and was also a trustee of the savings bank. Thomas Outwaite was also interested in sport and in January 1845 he played Cricket for the Benedict's team on Bosworth Field. He died on 14 July 1879.Scholefield, p. 140; Death of Mr Thomas Outhwaite, New Zealand Herald, Monday, 21 July 1879.
Grafton
It appears that Thomas Outhwaite and his family were living near the Auckland Domain by 1843. In 1844 he bought land and built a house on the south-western corner of Carlton Gore Road and Park Road opposite the Domain in the present-day Auckland suburb of Grafton.Dinah Holman, Newmarket Lost and Found, The Bush Press of New Zealand, Auckland, 2001, pp. 60–62. Most of this property was subdivided over the years and sold off although a parcel of land on the south side of Khyber Pass Road was gifted by Isa Outhwaite to the Catholic Church and is now the location of St Peter's College. The remaining portion of the family property included the family house on the corner of Carlton Gore Road and Park Road was gifted to the Newmarket Borough Council as a public amenity, and after the demolition of the house, Outhwaite Park was laid out, retaining as many of the mature specimen trees as possible.
Louise Outhwaite
Thomas Outhwaite's wife was Marie Henrietta Louise Outhwaite (née Roget) (1811–1905).
Thomas and Louise had four children, two sons and two daughters. Victorine Outhwaite was born in Paris in 1837. Isa Outhwaite was born in Auckland in 1842. Charles Outhwaite was born in Auckland in 1845 and William Eugene was also born in Auckland in 1847. None of the four children married or had their own children.
Isa Outhwaite
Anne Jane Louisa "Isa" Outhwaite (1842–1925) was a noted artist. She exhibited in Auckland from 1875 until 1900.Una Platts, Nineteenth Century New Zealand Artists, Avon, Christchurch, 1980, pp. 186 and 187Nineteenth Century New Zealand Artists: A Guide & Handbook, Outhwaite, Isa Rentoul 1842–1925, NZETC database. (NOTE: Isa's second name was not "Rentoul". She has been confused with an Australian artist of that name, Ida Rentoul Outhwaite); retrieved from Papers Past, 13 December 2014.
Charles Thomas Outhwaite Charles Thomas Outhwaite was born in Auckland in 1845. He was a sportsman, and judges associate. He was educated in Auckland (at St Peter's School) and in Paris; he was, for a period, associate to Sir George Arney, Chief Justice of New Zealand.Jill Williamson, E E Burton and Dorothy Gardiner, Outhwaite Connections, Auckland Historical Journal, April 1997, No 69, pp. 21 and 22. "Although a keen sportsman, yachtsman and cricketer, an accomplished musician and a lover of literature, Mr. Outhwaite was of a retiring disposition, taking no part in public life, yet generously interested in the advancement of his country and the well-being of its people.""Obituary: Mr. C. T. Outhwaite", New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 19060, 3 July 1925, Page 10. (Retrieved 16 April 2014)
Charles Outhwaite died on 24 June 1925 aged 80.
William Eugene Outhwaite William Eugene Outhwaite (B.A., Oxon., Barrister-at-Law of the Inner temple) was born in Auckland in 1847Mark Pirie, Ladies Guide to cricket by a lover of both c. 1883 (an account of its presumed author W.E. Outwaite (1847–1900), a 19th-century Auckland theatre critic, poet and barrister), Cultural and Political Booklets, Wellington, 2013 He spent some of his early child life in Paris and London. He received some education in Paris."William Eugene Outhwaite BA Oxon", New Zealand Illustrated Magazine, Volume 01, Issue 9, 1 June 1900, Page 78; retrieved 15 April 2014.
When he returned to New Zealand he was "an excellent marksman with the rifle" so signed on for the New Zealand Wars as a teenager at 15 (under the appointed age of 16) but did not see action. He received further education at St Peter's School, Auckland where he was taught by Richard O'Sullivan and at the Church of England Grammar School.
He studied law in the 1860s at Oxford. He received help in choosing a college (Lincoln College was chosen) and hospitality while he was in England from Cardinal Newman who was a friend of Bishop Pompallier, the first Catholic Bishop of Auckland.E R Simmons, In Crucis Salus: A History of the Diocese of Auckland 1848–1980, Catholic Publications Centre, Auckland, 1982, pg. 8.Richard Dunleavy, FMS, "Cardinal Newman and his links to Pompallier and New Zealand", NZ Catholic, 14–20 December 2008, pg. 5; a full text version of this article can be found on the Grafton website here
Outhwaite was in London in 1871 according to the English Census. He returned to Auckland after he became a Barrister-at-Law of the Inner Temple and in Auckland became a barrister of the Courts of New Zealand (admitted in 1890) and "took office."
He was a sportsman (he played cricket), sports enthusiast and critic as well as practising as a lawyer. He was a writer and playwright. He wrote an educative play called A Ladies' Guide to Cricket and a libretto for the cantata Art and Mind.Mark Pirie (ed), "A Ladies Guide to Cricket", Tingling Catch, 3 May 2013 (retrieved 15 December 2014) This cantata was originally written (with music composed by Auckland composer, Carl Schmitt) for the opening of the Auckland Art Gallery building in 1887, but it was not first performed until 1888. The libretto, which was written in poetic form, was considered to "have no mean literary merit" (e.g. Weird as the wind in forest pines,/Loud as the dashing, surging sea/Sweet as the bell-bird's matin song/Swell our paeons of harmony)."Herr Schmitt's New Cantata", Auckland Star, Volume XVIII, Issue 75, 30 March 1887, Page 3; retrieved 28 May 2014.
William Outhwaite wrote other poetry which was published and he was a theatre critic (under the name "Orpheus") for several publications. He was also a cellist. He died on 10 April 1900.William Eugene Outhwaite profile, The Cyclopedia of New Zealand, The Cyclopedia Company Limited, Christchurch, 1902, Volume 2, pg. 281, states as follows: "Mr William Eugene Outhwaite B.A., Oxon., Barrister-at-Law of the Inner temple, and of the Courts of New Zealand, was a native of Auckland and second son of Mr Thomas Outhwaite ... . He was a man of rare abilities, genial nature, and much culture; but unfortunately he was obliged to go about on crutches, owing to an accident and subsequent rheumatism, contracted at Oxford where he was a good all round athlete. Though well qualified as a lawyer, he gave more attention to letters than to his profession. As a critic, he wrote under the name of 'Orpheus', and writers, musicians, singers, and actors recognised him as an authority. He was a lover and patron of all sport, over which he exercised a wide and popular influence. Mr Outhwaite died on 10 April 1900. Occur when it may, the death of a man so gifted and accomplished is naturally deeply deplored by his friends, but in Mr Outhwaite's case there was an added grief in the knowledge that his death was really the after result of injuries received a year before, when he was knocked down by a recklessly driven brake [i.e. a type of light carriage].