Leonard Harper

Parliament of New Zealand
Years	Term	Electorate		Party
1876–1878	6th	Cheviot		Independent
1884–1887	9th	Avon		Independent

Leonard Harper (1832 – 27 October 1915) was a 19th-century Member of Parliament in Canterbury, New Zealand.

Harper was born in 1832. His father was Henry Harper, who became the first bishop of Christchurch.^[1]

He represented the Cheviot electorate from 1876 to 1878, when he resigned. He then represented the Avon electorate from 1884 to 1887, when he again resigned.^[2] He bought Ilam homestead, once the largest residential building in Christchurch,^[3] and was for some years co-owner of Risingholme, which was bought from the estate of William Reeves.^[4]

Harper left New Zealand in July 1891. It only emerged later that his law firm was bankrupt, and that NZ£200,000 had been embezzled.^[1] He later lived on Jersey, the largest of the Channel Islands,^[5] where he died in 1915.^[6] Arthur Paul Harper was his son.^[1]

References

1. Langton, Graham. "Arthur Paul Harper". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved December 2011. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
2. Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First published in 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. p. 203. OCLC 154283103.
3. "History of the Club". University of Canterbury. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
4. "Risingholme". Register of Historic Places. Heritage New Zealand. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
5. Cyclopedia Company Limited (1903). "Mr. Leonard Harper". The Cyclopedia of New Zealand : Canterbury Provincial District. Christchurch: The Cyclopedia of New Zealand. p. 96. Retrieved 27 September 2013.
6. "Death of Mr Leonard Harper". The Press. LI (15421). 28 October 1915. p. 6. Retrieved 4 October 2013.