Robert Heaton Rhodes
Robert Heaton Rhodes was a New Zealand politician, who represented the Akaroa electorate from 1871 to 1874, when he resigned. He was elected unopposed in 1871.
Born in 1815 in Rotherham, in the English county of Yorkshire, he followed his brothers, including William Barnard Rhodes, to New Zealand in 1850, having worked in Australia. He lived at Purau and managed properties on Banks Peninsula belonging to the Rhodes brothers. He built a large house in Christchurch, Elmwood, where he died. He was a founder of several early business enterprises, including the New Zealand Shipping Company and the Kaiapoi Woollen Manufacturing Company.
His eldest son Sir Heaton Rhodes had a long Parliamentary career.
