Thomas Bannatyne Gillies (17 January 1828 – 26 July 1889) was a 19th century New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 lawyer, judge and politician.

Early life

He was born at Rothesay on the Isle of Bute

Isle of Bute

Bute is an island in the Firth of Clyde in Scotland. Formerly part of the county of Buteshire, it now constitutes part of the council area of Argyll and Bute. Its resident population was 7,228 in April 2001.-Geography:...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

, on 17 January 1828. He was the eldest of nine children of John Gillies, local lawyer and town clerk, and his wife, Isabella Lillie, daughter of a Glasgow businessman and grand-daughter of a Huguenot

Huguenot

The Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France during the 16th and 17th centuries. Since the 17th century, people who formerly would have been called Huguenots have instead simply been called French Protestants, a title suggested by their German co-religionists, the...

 refugee. He emigrated to New Zealand in 1852.

He was the brother of John Lillie Gillies

John Lillie Gillies

John Lillie Gillies was a 19th century Member of Parliament from the Otago Region of New Zealand.He represented the Waikouaiti electorate from 1873 to 1875, when he resigned.He was the brother of Thomas Gillies and Robert Gillies....

 and Robert Gillies

Robert Gillies (politician)

Robert Gillies was a 19th century Member of Parliament in the Otago Region, New Zealand.He represented the Bruce electorate from 1884 until his resignation in 1885 for failing health....

.

Political career

He was the Member of Parliament for Dunedin Country

Dunedin Country

Dunedin Country was a parliamentary electorate in the rural area surrounding the city of Dunedin in Otago, New Zealand, from 1853 to 1860. It was a two-member electorate.-Members:The electorate was represented by five Members of Parliament....

 1860, then Bruce

Bruce (New Zealand electorate)

Bruce was a rural parliamentary electorate in the Otago region of New Zealand, from 1861 to 1922. For part of the 1860s with the influx to Otago of gold-miners it was a multi-member constituency with two members.-History:...

 1861 to 1865 (resigned); two electorates in the South Island. He then represented Mongonui

Mongonui (New Zealand electorate)

Mongonui and then Mongonui and Bay of Islands was a former parliamentary electorate in the Far North District in the Northland region of New Zealand, from 1861 to 1881.-History:* William Butler 1861–1866...

 1870 (elected 30 March 1870; Parliament dissolved 30 December 1870) then Auckland West

Auckland West

The former New Zealand Parliamentary electorate on the western outskirts of Auckland, was known as West Auckland from 1984 to 1993. The earlier electorates were known as City of Auckland West from 1861 to 1890, and then Auckland West from 1905 to 1946.-History:The "City of Auckland West" electorate...

 1871 to 1875 (resigned); two electorates in the North Island.

He was the seventh Superintendent

Superintendent (politics)

Superintendent was the elected head of each Provincial Council in New Zealand from 1853 to 1876.-Historical context:Provinces existed in New Zealand from 1841 until 1876 as a form of sub-national government. After the initial provinces pre-1853, new provinces were formed by the New Zealand...

 of Auckland Province

Auckland Province

The Auckland Province was a province of New Zealand from 1853 until the abolition of provincial government in 1876.-Anniversary Day:...

 from 1869 to 1873.

He was a cabinet minister, and held the positions of Attorney-General

Attorney-General (New Zealand)

The Attorney-General is a political office in New Zealand. It is simultaneously a ministerial position and an administrative office, and has responsibility for supervising New Zealand law and advising the government on legal matters...

 1861-62 and Minister of Finance

Minister of Finance (New Zealand)

The Minister of Finance is a senior figure within the government of New Zealand. The position is often considered to be the most important Cabinet role after that of the Prime Minister....

 (then called Colonial Treasurer) in 1872.

Professional career

Gillies joined the practise of his father John Gillies and John Hyde Harris

John Hyde Harris

John Hyde Harris was a 19th century New Zealand politician. Born in England, he came to Dunedin as a young man and practised as a lawyer, and was then a judge. He entered provincial politics and was elected as the fourth Superintendent of the Otago Province...

 in July 1857. In the 1860s, he ran a law practice in Dunedin with William Richmond

William Richmond

Christopher William Richmond , generally called William Richmond, was a 19th century New Zealand politician. He held a number of Cabinet positions between 1856 and 1861. He worked as a lawyer and was appointed a senior judge who held condescending views of Māori.-Early life:Richmond was probably...

, a fellow (ex) MP.