John Hall (New Zealand politician)

The Honourable Sir John Hall KCMG
12th Premier of New Zealand
In office 8 October 1879 – 21 April 1882
Monarch	Victoria
Governor	Sir Hercules Robinson Sir Arthur Hamilton-Gordon
Preceded by	Sir George Grey (1879)
Succeeded by	Frederick Whitaker (1882)
Constituency	Selwyn
4th Colonial Secretary of New Zealand
In office 20 May 1856 – 2 June 1856
Governor	Sir Thomas Gore Browne
1st Chairman of the Christchurch Town Council
In office 1862–1863
Succeeded by	John Ollivier
26th Mayor of Christchurch
In office 1906–1907
Preceded by	Charles Gray
Succeeded by	George Payling
Personal details
Born	(1824-12-18)18 December 1824 Kingston upon Hull, England
Died	25 June 1907(1907-06-25) (aged 82) Christchurch, New Zealand
Political party	Independent, leaning conservative
Spouse(s)	Rose Dryden
Relations	Mary Grigg (granddaughter) Thomas Hall (nephew)[1]
Children	5
Religion	Anglican[2]

Sir John Hall KCMG (c.18 December 1824 – 25 June 1907) was born in Kingston upon Hull, England, the third son of George Hall, a captain in the navy. At the age of ten he was sent to school in Switzerland and his education continued in Paris and Hamburg. After returning to England and being employed by the Post Office, at the age of 27 he decided to emigrate, later becoming the 12th Prime Minister of New Zealand. He was also Mayor of Christchurch.

Migration to New Zealand

After reading a book on sheep farming, Hall emigrated to New Zealand, on the Samarang, arriving in Lyttelton on 31 July 1852. His brothers George and Thomas followed him to New Zealand soon after. He developed one of the first large scale sheep farming runs in Canterbury.^[2]

Political offices

In 1853, he was elected to the Canterbury Provincial Council. He would later rise through the ranks of magistrate, was the first town council Chairman in Christchurch (the forerunner to the position of mayor, 1862 and 1863), and Postmaster-General. In Parliament he represented the electorates of Christchurch Country 1855–60 (resigned in early 1860^[3]), Heathcote 1866–70 & 1871–72 (resigned), Selwyn 1879–83 (resigned) & 1887–90, and Ellesmere 1890–93 (retired).

In the 1865–66 election, he contested the Heathcote electorate against G. Buckley, and they received 338 and 239 votes, respectively.^[4]

Premier of New Zealand

On 8 October 1879, he was appointed the Premier of New Zealand, where his ministry carried out reforms of the male suffrage (extending voting rights) and dealt with a conflict between settlers and Māori at Parihaka, although poor health caused him to resign the position less than three years later. In the 1882 Birthday Honours, he was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George.

Women's suffrage

Hall took an active interest in women's rights. He moved the Parliamentary Bill that gave women in New Zealand the vote (1893), (the first country in the world to do so), he became the honorary Mayor of Christchurch, for the New Zealand International Exhibition from 1 November 1906 to 15 April 1907.

Despite the distances involved, Hall made several visits back to England and maintained his contacts there, especially with the Leathersellers' Company,^[5] of which he was a Liveryman for 55 years.

Hall had married Rose Dryden in England, daughter of William Dryden of Kingston upon Hull, after returning there in 1860.^[6] They went back to New Zealand in 1863. They had five children and one of their granddaughters, Mary Grigg, later became an MP for the National Party.

Hall died in Christchurch on 25 June 1907, shortly after the International Exhibition had finished. He is buried in the St. John cemetery in Hororata.^[7]

References

Sources

Wikimedia Commons has media related to John Hall (New Zealand).

• Garner, Jean (1995). By His Own Merits. Hororata: Dryden Press. ISBN 0-473-03543-X. 
• A. B. White, rev. Elizabeth Baigent. "Hall, Sir John (1824–1907)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/33655.  (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)

Mayors of Christchurch
Chairman	John Hall John Ollivier Isaac Luck Edward Bishop William Wilson
Mayors	elected by councillors William Wilson John Anderson Andrew Duncan James Jameson Henry Sawtell Edward Bishop Michael Hart Fred Hobbs elected at large Fred Hobbs James Gapes Henry Thomson Charles Thomas Ick James Gapes (2nd) George Ruddenklau Charles Hulbert Aaron Ayers Charles Louisson Samuel Manning Charles Gray William Prudhoe Eden George Thomas Gapes Walter Cooper Harry Joseph Beswick Walter Cooper (2nd) Charles Louisson (2nd) William Reece Arthur Rhodes Henry Wigram Charles Mathew Gray (2nd) John Hall George Payling Charles Allison Thomas Taylor John Joseph Dougall1 Henry Holland Henry Thacker James Arthur Flesher Rev John Archer Dan Sullivan John Beanland Robert Macfarlane Ernest Andrews Robert Macfarlane (2nd) George Manning Ron Guthrey Neville Pickering Hamish Hay Vicki Buck Garry Moore Bob Parker Lianne Dalziel
Mayoral elections	annual term 1875† 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882† 1883 1884† 1885† 1886 1887† 1888† 1889† 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897† 1898† 1899† 1901† 1902† 1903† 1904† 1905 1906† 1907† 1908 1909 1910† 1911 1912 1913 1914 biennial term 1915 1917 1919 1921 1923 1925 1927 1929 1931 1933 triennial term 1935 1936‡ 1938 1941 1944 1947 1950 1953 1956 1958‡ 1959 1962 1965 1968 1971 1974 1977 1980 1983 1986 1989 1992 1995 1998 2001 2004 2007 2010 2013 2016
† Elected unopposed · ‡ By-election · 1 appointed following death of incumbent