Born in
Oamaru on 13 May 1865, Buick was the son of Margaret (née Petrie) and John Walter Buick. His parents had emigrated from England to
Port Chalmers in 1860. Buick received his education at schools in Oamaru and moved to
Blenheim in 1884 to work as a carpenter. Although he had no relation to Ireland or Catholicism, he joined the
Irish National League "purely as a lover of liberty and justice", and in 1889 he embarked on a speaker tour. He was also active in the
temperance movement. Buick married Mary Fitzgerald on 8 January 1891 at Blenheim; they were to have no children. ==Member of Parliament==