Frederick Whitaker

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Frederick Whitaker

Sir Frederick Whitaker , KCMG (born April 23, 1812 in Bampton , Oxfordshire , England , † December 4, 1891 in Auckland ) was an Anglo-New Zealand politician and the fifth Prime Minister of New Zealand . He had two terms; the first time from October 30, 1863 to November 24, 1864 , the second time from April 21, 1882 to September 25, 1883 .

Emigration and legal activity

Whitaker's father was a respected attorney at Oxford , and so was his son studying law . In January 1839 he was admitted to the bar. He decided to emigrate to New South Wales , Australia, and arrived there in October of the same year. But in March 1840 he moved on to New Zealand and settled on the Bay of Islands , where he worked as a lawyer. In April 1841, Auckland became the new capital and Whitaker moved there. In the same year he was appointed district judge, but his office was abolished in 1844 as part of an administrative reform.

On March 4, 1843, he married Jane Augusta Griffith, from the marriage had four sons and four daughters. Whitaker was made a member of the Legislative Council by Governor Robert FitzRoy in 1845 and served on it for a year. After a two-year trip to England, he resumed his legal practice in 1848, speculating with holdings in agricultural, mining and forestry companies.

Promotion to Prime Minister

After New Zealand received a new constitution, Frederick Whitaker was reappointed to the Legislative Council in May 1853. In 1854 he became the senior judicial officer in Auckland Province and was on the staff of the Chief Prosecutor. In 1855 he ran unsuccessfully for this office. Henry Sewell , the country's first prime minister, appointed Whitaker Attorney General , the government's highest legal adviser (with the rank of minister), in May 1856 . He held this office with interruptions until July 1861.

In October 1863, Prime Minister Alfred Domett lost a vote of no confidence and Frederick Whitaker succeeded him. He appointed his law firm partner Thomas Russell as Secretary of Defense (who had been a minister without a portfolio since August 1862). Both took the position that the Māori "rebels" had to be ruthlessly persecuted and called for land expropriation on a large scale and the establishment of military settlements to guarantee the safety of the Pākehā . This uncompromising stance led to the overthrow of the government in November 1864. Governor George Gray suspected that Whitaker and Russell were mere puppets of a few Bank of New Zealand directors who had hoped to make big profits from the expropriated Maori land. Whitaker resigned as a member of the Legislative Council.

Temporary withdrawal

After Auckland lost its capital city status to Wellington in 1865, Whitaker publicly called for the political separation of New Zealand's main islands. In October of this year he was elected unrivaled chairman of the provincial council and in November he was elected member of parliament for Parnell constituency. In parliament he called for more autonomy and the repeal of the capital decree of 1856. Since he could not enforce his demands, he resigned in March 1867 from his offices.

For the next nine years he stayed out of politics and worked as a businessman. Together with his partner Thomas Russell, Whitaker ran a gold mining company in Thames . He was also involved in gas works, forest operations and coal mines; he speculated in land and was a major shareholder in the Bank of New Zealand. He also sat on the boards of several New Zealand subsidiaries of foreign corporations.

Renewed political activity

In January 1876, Whitaker ran again as a member of Parliament in the constituency of Waitako and was also elected. Prime Minister Harry Atkinson in turn appointed him Attorney General. He held this ministerial post until the fall of the government in October 1877. In November 1879 he lost his seat in parliament, but the new Prime Minister John Hall appointed him Attorney General. Whitaker was a huge influence on the government. So it was no surprise that after Hall's resignation in October 1883 he became Prime Minister for a second time. In November 1884, however, he resigned as he wanted to devote more of his time to his business activities. In the same year he was knighted.

After Harry Atkinson became Prime Minister again in October 1887, he reappointed Whitaker as Attorney General. In January 1891 Whitaker resigned for good. Disastrous bad speculation and a recession had almost led to his financial ruin. He died a few months later at the age of 79.

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