Superintendent of Otago. Thomas Dick was born on 13 August 1823
at Edinburgh, the son of Thomas Dick, a merchant, and of
Marjory, née Sherriff. Although his parents moved to London when
he was a child, he was sent to Edinburgh for his education. In
1838 he entered the office of John Roberts, a London, merchant,
where he remained until 1850 when he joined Messrs. James
Morrison and Co., of Fenchurch Street, London. He spent the next
seven years as the firm's representative at St. Helena. In 1857
he was transferred to Dunedin, where he soon established himself
as an auctioneer. After 1861, when the goldfields were
proclaimed, he expanded this business into a general mercantile
agency. Within a year of his arrival in the colony Dick entered
public life. On 12 February 1859 he was elected to the
Provincial Council, and joined the executive of W. H. Reynolds
in the following November. In 1862 he carried a want of
confidence motion against the Cutten—Walker administration and
took office as Provincial Secretary. On