John Hall (politician, 1824)

John Hall

Sir John Hall (born December 18, 1824 in Kingston upon Hull , England , † June 25, 1907 in Christchurch ) was a New Zealand politician and Prime Minister of New Zealand .

Hall grew up in England. After reading a book about sheep breeding, he emigrated to New Zealand, where he arrived on the Samarang on July 31, 1852 . He built one of the first large sheep farms in Canterbury .

In 1853 he was elected to the Canterbury Provincial Council. He later rose above the ranks of councilors to town council chairman (de facto mayor) and postmaster general. He came to Parliament as a member of the Heathcote constituency in Christchurch.

prime minister

On October 8, 1879, he was appointed the 12th Prime Minister of New Zealand, replacing George Gray in office. His cabinet extended male suffrage. He played a morally questionable role through his support of the government in the conflict with the Māori in Parihaka , which led to the occupation of large areas of the Māori and the displacement and imprisonment of numerous residents. On April 21, 1882, he resigned from office due to poor health. He was succeeded by Frederick Whitaker . In the same year he was inducted into the Order of St. Michael and St. George as Knight Commander .

In 1906 he became mayor of Christchurch, where he died in 1907.

Women's suffrage

In contrast to his otherwise conservative political views, Hall had an active interest in women's rights. In the last few years of his life, he introduced the bill that led to New Zealand becoming the first country in the world to introduce women's suffrage in 1893.

Web links

• WJ Gardner : Hall, John . In: Dictionary of New Zealand Biography . Ministry for Culture & Heritage , September 1, 2010, accessed August 24, 2012 .