Francis Arkwright

Who was Francis Arkwright?

Francis Arkwright belonged to the British gentry. His first wife died after giving birth to a daughter, and he remarried. Arkwright represented East Derbyshire in the British House of Commons from 1874 to 1880.

In 1882, the Arkwright family emigrated to New Zealand, where he commissioned a large country house on the Rangitikei River. Arkwright was a leading Freemason. He unsuccessfully stood for the Rangitikei electorate on three occasions. In 1895, he was appointed to the New Zealand Legislative Council. The family returned to live in England in 1906 and Arkwright died in 1915 at Bournemouth.

Arkwright owned several notable houses in both England and New Zealand. Of these, Overton in Marton is the most notable and is registered as Category I with the New Zealand Historic Places Trust.