in the need to "reform" Māori institutions and culture, being particularly adamant about the need to eliminate the beastly communism of common land ownership. Richmond generally had a very low opinion of Māori, considering them to be savages. He was confirmed at the 1860 general election, which was held on 28 November. After the Stafford government fell, Richmond did not remain in Parliament for long, and he resigned on 20 January 1862. He was succeeded by Isaac Newton Watt. Legal career He established a law practice in Dunedin with Thomas Gillies, a fellow MP. He was soon appointed to a post as a senior judge, a role which he seemed to enjoy more than his former political career. In 1865, he turned down an invitation by Stafford to return to politics, despite a suggestion that he could become Premier. During the "Barton Affair" of 1876–78 he was a member of the court with Chief Justice James Prendergast who imprisoned lawyer George Elliott Barton for a month for contempt of court, a ruling that split the Wellington legal profession. Towards the end of his life, Richmond became increasingly conservative, condemning the Liberal Party's proposals for women's suffrage, a land tax, and an income tax. Family and death The Richmonds had five daughters and four sons. Their daughter Margaret married the surgeon Walter Fell in 1886. Richmond died in Wellington on 3 August 1895. References 1821 births 1895 deaths New Zealand finance ministers Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives Members of the Cabinet of New Zealand People from New Plymouth Lawyers from Dunedin High Court of New Zealand judges English emigrants to New Zealand New Zealand MPs for North Island electorates Atkinson–Hursthouse–Richmond family Colony of New Zealand judges 19th-century New Zealand politicians Colonial Secretaries of New Zealand Politicians from Dunedin Fell family