Charles Johnson Pharazyn (11 October 1802 – 16 August 1903) was a runholder, merchant, and member of the New Zealand Legislative Council who lived beyond 100 years of age. His obituary in the Wellington newspaper described him as a man of much wealth.
Biography
Pharazyn was born in London in 1802. He arrived in Wellington on the Jane on 24 May 1841 and established himself as a merchant. Tiring of this he became a runholder leasing a run in Palliser Bay with William Fitzherbert. After a visit to England, he became a merchant again in partnership with, first John Johnston, and later Nathaniel Levin. He retired from business in 1871. He was eccentric; when he lost his spectacles in 1872, he walked through Wellington with a sign around his neck: "Lost, a pair of spectacles". He claimed that the Wellington newspapers were so dull that nobody read them, so advertising in them was pointless. He took a cold bath every morning, by which he explained his good health until old age.
Pharazyn was appointed by the governor to the Legislative Council on 17 June 1869 called by premier Edward Stafford. These appointments were made for life.
Education boards were set up under the Education Act, 1872 and in 1875 Pharazyn was appointed chairman as well as treasurer of the Wellington Education Board. "During a discussion at the Education Board, (says the Evening Argus), as to the price to be charged for boarders attending the Tenui School the Hon. C. J Pharazyn said that during his station life he kept himself and family of nine on £100 a year. The statement was readily believed. Mr Pharazyn would have been believed had he said he could keep a family of twelve on £50 a year." The Wanganui Herald quoted in Wairarapa School History.
The New Zealand Mail followed up with: "It is refreshing to find that public opinion, as represented by the Press, entirely agrees with Mr. Pharazyn's statement that he was used to feed and clothe a family on £100 a year when at a station. Everyone knows the station. It had quite a reputation in its day, and was called, I believe, the " Go on " station, from a popular belief that to stop at it in hopes of getting anything would have been useless."