Thomas Burnett

Thomas David Burnett (25 November 1877 – 30 November 1941) was a New Zealand politician of the Reform Party, and joined the National Party after the 1935 election. Early life Burnett's parents were Andrew Burnett and Catherine Burnett from Strathnaver in the Scottish Highlands, with the locality named after the river of the same name. His parents arrived in Canterbury, New Zealand in 1861 and proceeded to the Mackenzie Basin. In May 1864, they selected the Mount Cook Station, so named after the adjacent mountain, and developed it into a sheep station. Burnett was born on 25 November 1877, according to the contemporary advertisement, at the "residence" of the Burnetts. Later sources record his place of birth as Timaru or Cave (some north-west of Timaru), The Burnetts had eight children and to provide better access to education, they purchased land in Cave in 1873 and built a homestead there. To be even closer to the schools in Timaru, Andrew Burnett had a home built in Timaru's Perth Street in 1876; this house became the South Canterbury Museum after Thomas Burnett's death. Burnett received his education at Timaru Main Primary and Timaru Boys' High School.