Colonel George John Smith (1862–1946) was a New Zealand Member of Parliament for the City of Christchurch electorate in the

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

, and later a member of the Legislative Council.

Early life

Smith was born in

Consett Consett is a town in County Durham, England, about south-west of Newcastle upon Tyne. It had a population of 27,394 in 2001 and an estimate of 25,812 in 2019. History Consett sits high on the edge of the Pennines. Its' name originates in the ...

in County Durham and educated at the Wesleyan Church School in

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

. Following that, he worked at the office of the Government solicitors. He came to New Zealand in 1879. He was a lawyer and businessman in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

. He was a councillor on the Sydenham Borough Council. A strong prohibitionist, Smith was elected to the

Sydenham Sydenham may refer to: Places Australia * Sydenham, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney ** Sydenham railway station, Sydney * Sydenham, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne ** Sydenham railway line, the name of the Sunbury railway line, Melbourne un ...

Licensing Committee in 1891, which was determined to refuse all licences in the borough. Several members including Smith were removed from this position by order of the Supreme Court for "incurable bias".

Member of Parliament

Smith then stood for parliament. In the 1893 election, he came second in the three-member City of Christchurch electorate, and thus entered the House of Representatives. He was re-elected in

1896 Events January–March * January 2 – The Jameson Raid comes to an end, as Jameson surrenders to the Boers. * January 4 – Utah is admitted as the 45th U.S. state. * January 5 – An Austrian newspaper reports that Wil ...

(coming second in the electorate), but defeated in

1899 Events January 1899 * January 1 ** Spanish rule ends in Cuba, concluding 400 years of the Spanish Empire in the Americas. ** Queens and Staten Island become administratively part of New York City. * January 2 – **Bolivia sets up a c ...

. He was returned to parliament again at the

1901 City of Christchurch by-election The City of Christchurch by-election of 1901 was a by-election held on 18 July 1901 during the 14th New Zealand Parliament in the urban seat of the City of Christchurch. The by-election was triggered by the resignation of conservative politician ...

triggered by the resignation of Charles Lewis. Smith was an

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

MP for his entire parliamentary career. He was appointed a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(CBE) in the

1918 New Year Honours The 1918 New Year Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire. The appointments were published in ''The London Gazette'' and ''The Times'' in Ja ...

Legislative Council

Smith was appointed to the Legislative Council in 1907, and was a member from 1907 to 1914 and 1920 to 1932.

Other activities

Smith purchased Riverlaw from

Hugh Murray-Aynsley Hugh Percy Murray–Aynsley (8 October 1828 – 22 February 1917) was a 19th-century Member of Parliament in Canterbury, New Zealand. Early life Murray-Aynsley was born in Gloucestershire, England, in 1828. His father was John Murray-Aynsley (17 ...

in 1905, a substantial property and homestead on the

Heathcote River Heathcote may refer to: Places in Australia *Heathcote, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney **Electoral district of Heathcote, a seat in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly **Heathcote National Park ** Parish of Heathcote a parish of Cumberla ...

at the bottom of Rapaki Track. He enlarged the house and added a third storey. After his death, Riverlaw was for many years used by the

YWCA The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries. The World office is currently based in Geneva, Swi ...

. On 6 September 1984, the house was registered with the New Zealand Historic Places Trust (since renamed to Heritage New Zealand) as a Category II heritage place, with registration number 3728; Riverlaw was regarded as one of the finest colonial homes in Christchurch. It was significantly damaged in the

2011 Christchurch earthquake A major earthquake occurred in Christchurch on Tuesday 22 February 2011 at 12:51 p.m. local time (23:51 UTC, 21 February). The () earthquake struck the entire of the Canterbury region in the South Island, centred south-east ...

and demolished soon after. Smith was for many years a member of the Board of Governors of Canterbury College (1903–1907, 1913–1917, 1920–1946). He was Chairmen of the Board of Governors from 1928 to 1932. In 1935, he was awarded the

King George V Silver Jubilee Medal The King George V Silver Jubilee Medal is a commemorative medal, instituted to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the accession of King George V. Issue This medal was awarded as a personal souvenir by King George V to commemorate his Silver J ...

Notes

References

* * * * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, George John 1862 births 1946 deaths New Zealand Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Independent MPs of New Zealand New Zealand Liberal Party MPs Members of the New Zealand Legislative Council Local politicians in New Zealand New Zealand businesspeople 19th-century New Zealand lawyers New Zealand temperance activists English emigrants to New Zealand Chancellors of the University of Canterbury Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand MPs for Christchurch electorates People from Consett 19th-century New Zealand politicians