Thomas Russell was a leading member of an early cartel that found New Zealand, and Auckland in particular, ripe for speculation.
Thomas Russell was a leading member of an early cartel that found New Zealand, and Auckland in particular, ripe for speculation.
He was born in Cork in 1830 and in 1833 his parents emigrated to Australia where his father farmed in NSW. Seven years later the family sailed to New Zealand and eventually settled in Auckland where his father was by turn either farmer or carpenter. His mother, Mary, ran a drapery store in Shortland Street to help support the growing family. Her sudden death in 1847 at age 36 was a severe blow and the family was further disrupted by their father absconding with two of his sons to the Californian goldfields, leaving Thomas to look after his remaining siblings.
He already evinced a maturity beyond his 20 years, and was charismatic and very ambitious. His resourcefulness was demonstrated upon hearing that California was at the height of the gold rush and vegetables had become scarce so he bought all the onions he could get hold of in Auckland and shipped them to San Francisco where they fetched enormously high prices.
At that time he was employed in a law office and as soon as he was licensed to practise, he set up his own firm helped by his connection with the Wesleyan church where he was first a Sunday school teacher then a lay preacher. He enjoyed Reverend Walter Lawry’s patronage, which was further strengthened when he married Lawry’s niece. As a consequence many Wesleyans used his practice for their private business matters. Thomas, now successful, helped his younger brothers, having a strong sense of family loyalty. He articled all four to his practice and each founded their own firms which have endured to the present day.
But Thomas was more interested in the cut and thrust of speculative commerce. He was an active supporter of the Progress Party which represented the interests of Auckland’s business community and due to his initiative the New Zealand Insurance Company was formed in 1859. During the following 10 years he promoted a number of financial institutions and gold mining companies.
An apocryphal story put about by his arch enemy, Falconer Larkworthy, is that the manager of the Bank of New South Wales had doubts about Thomas Russell’s credit worthiness and prevaricated about renewing his account, thereby inducing Thomas to establish the Bank of New Zealand. In subsequent years, his influence within the bank enabled him to get generous and sometimes improper advances in order to build up a substantial private fortune.
As if all these activities weren't enough to keep him occupied, he began a brief foray into politics and was appointed a minister without a portfolio in in the Domett administration, and then with the outbreak of war in the Waikato, he was made Minister of Defence. He continued to hold this post in the following Fox-Whitaker administration and represented the settlers’ views towards ‘rebel’ Maori. Governor George Grey became uneasy at the scale of confiscations planned and mistrusted Russell who wanted to encourage land-buying schemes that would benefit his own legal firm.
After the shift of New Zealand's capital to Wellington, Russell withdrew from politics but he had powerful friends in government on whom he could call for favours, so much so that William Rolleston, Minister of Lands, observed that an "idea exists that Mr Thomas Russell is not a representative of the Colonial Government but the Colonial Government is the representative of Mr Thomas Russell." While he was loyal to those who supported him, he could be vindictive towards those who did not. He never lacked enemies. He was forced to carry a loaded revolver in case a disaffected investor in gold mining who held Russell responsible, tried to hunt him down at Russell's home. However, he was arrested and gaoled for life. Finally the colony was too small for his financial ambitions and social aspirations so in 1874 he took up permanent residence in England and soon became an influential mortgage broker in London City.
Although living abroad he made lengthy visits to inspect his estates in New Zealand enabling him to maintain ascendancy over the directors in Auckland. When the colony fell into a depression in 1886, his companies fell into a desperate plight but a successful deal with Logan Campbell saved him and he and he was able to live in comfortable circumstances in a country house near Farnham in Surrey until he died in 1904. His estate amounted to £160,000. For more in-depth knowledge of those times read ‘Makers of Fortune, a Colonial Business Community and its Fall by R.C.J. Stone.
(DEIRDRE ROELANTS)