John Kerr

John Kerr (1830 – 3 May 1898) was a 19th-century Member of Parliament from Nelson, New Zealand. As well as Lake Station (including Lake Rotoiti and Pourangahau / Mount Robert), Kerr also owned the Tarndale Run and around the Wairau River before entering into a business partnership with Molesworth Station owner Acton Adams. Kerr commissioned cob builder Ned James to build Tarndale homestead in 1874. Biography Kerr was born in 1830 in the south of Scotland. His father's name was also John Kerr. The family emigrated to New Zealand in 1842 on the Fifeshire and settled in Waimea West. Early in his life, he was engaged in whaling in the Tory Channel / Kura Te Au. He was a butcher in Nelson before he started sheep farming at Lake Station. Following the resignation from Parliament of Joseph Shephard, who had been appointed to the Legislative Council, a Waimea by-election was held on 3 June 1885. It was contested by six candidates: Kerr (253 votes), W. N. Franklyn (250 votes), William White (94 votes), Christian Dencker (91 votes), William Wastney (59 votes) and Jesse Piper (32 votes). Kerr was thus elected.