Arthur Collins (politician)


Arthur Shuckburgh Collins, known as Arthur Collins and later as Arthur Collyns, was a 19th-century Member of Parliament from Nelson, New Zealand.

Biography

Collins was born on 31 December 1832 in Devon, England. His parents were William Wrangham Collins and Henrietta Shuckburgh. He was their only child. He received a 'good education'. The family emigrated to Nelson on the Pekin from London, arriving on 15 January 1850. In his younger years, he excelled in sports.
Collins married Catherine Anne Collins on 25 September 1855 in Nelson. They had three girls before his wife died on 8 February 1864. On 25 January 1866, he married again—Erica Elspeth Collins. Ten children resulted from this marriage. Sometime in the 1870s, he changed the spelling of his surname to Collyns. His daughter Hilda Reay was registered as Collins, whilst his son Arthur Wrangham was registered as Collyns.
He represented the electorate from to 1873, when he resigned. He was a Provincialist, but once elected, he changed his mind and became an ardent supporter of the abolition of the provinces. He then represented the Suburbs of Nelson electorate in from 11 January to 8 November, when he retired.
Collyns died on 26 September 1911. He is buried, as are his wives, at Wakapuaka Cemetery. His second wife had died before him, on 27 June 1897.