Edward Jollie was a pioneer land surveyor in New Zealand, initially as a cadet surveyor with the New Zealand Company

New Zealand Company

The New Zealand Company originated in London in 1837 as the New Zealand Association with the aim of promoting the "systematic" colonisation of New Zealand. The association, and later the company, intended to follow the colonising principles of Edward Gibbon Wakefield, who envisaged the creation of...

. He followed his elder brother Francis Jollie

Francis Jollie

Francis Jollie was a 19th century New Zealand politician.He was one of the earliest settlers in the country, having arrived in 1842 as the agent of the New Zealand Company....

 to New Zealand, arriving on the barque Brougham in Wellington

Wellington

Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...

 in 1842. Later he worked in the Wairau

Wairau Valley

Wairau Valley is the valley of the Wairau River in Marlborough, New Zealand and also the name of the main settlement in the upper valley. State Highway 63 runs through the valley. The valley opens onto the Wairau Plain, where Renwick and Blenheim are sited...

, and in Canterbury

Canterbury, New Zealand

The New Zealand region of Canterbury is mainly composed of the Canterbury Plains and the surrounding mountains. Its main city, Christchurch, hosts the main office of the Christchurch City Council, the Canterbury Regional Council - called Environment Canterbury - and the University of Canterbury.-...

, where he laid out the new town of Christchurch

Christchurch

Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest urban area after Auckland. It lies one third of the way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of...

 in 1850.

Later he was briefly the first Member of Parliament for the Cheviot

Cheviot (New Zealand electorate)

Cheviot was a parliamentary electorate in the Canterbury Region of New Zealand, from 1859 to 1890.-History:Cheviot was formed partway through the term of the 2nd New Zealand Parliament. The first elections were held in 1859, and Edward Jollie was the first representative. Leonard Harper was the...

 electorate 1859-60, being elected in December 1859. In his diary, he says about his parliamentary career that "In the Assembly I voted with the Government, but only spoke once in a debate, and then briefly."

He farmed in Southbridge

Southbridge, New Zealand

Southbridge is a small town with a population of 720 and approximately 260 houses, on the Canterbury Plains in the South Island of New Zealand. It is located southwest of Christchurch, between Leeston, Dunsandel and the Rakaia River...

, Canterbury. He was active on the Canterbury Provincial Council

Canterbury Province

The Canterbury Province was a province of New Zealand from 1853 until the abolition of provincial government in 1876. On the east coast the province was bounded by the Hurunui River in the north and the Waitaki River in the south...

 from 1865 until the abolition of the provinces in 1876. He held several posts including Secretary of Public Works and Provincial Treasurer.

After his wife Florence died in 1873 he lived with his six daughters and two sons in Europe from 1877 and when they returned to New Zealand in 1884 settled in Patea

Patea

Patea is the third-largest town in South Taranaki, New Zealand. It is on the western bank of the Patea River, 61 kilometres north-west of Wanganui on State Highway 3. Hawera is 27 km to the north-west, and Waverley 17 km to the east. The Patea River flows through the town from the...

(for no reason known to the family, but possibly wanting to avoid Canterbury after Florence’s death).