Sir Christopher James Parr (18 May 1869 – 2 May 1941) was a New Zealand lawyer and politician of the Reform Party. He was

Mayor of Auckland The Mayor of Auckland is the directly elected head of the Auckland Council, the local government authority for the Auckland Region in New Zealand, which it controls as a unitary authority. The position exists since October 2010 after the amalga ...

, a Member of Parliament representing the Eden electorate, a Minister in the Reform Government, High Commissioner in London and a Member of the

New Zealand Legislative Council The New Zealand Legislative Council was the upper house of the General Assembly of New Zealand between 1853 and 1951. An earlier arrangement of legislative councils for the colony and provinces existed from 1841 when New Zealand became a co ...

Early life

Parr was born in Pukerimu near

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

in 1869.

Political career

Parr was

from 1911 to 1915, succeeded by Sir

James Gunson Sir James Henry Gunson (26 October 1877 – 12 May 1963) was a New Zealand businessman and Mayor of Auckland City from 1915 to 1925. He was knighted in 1924. W Gunson & Co Born and educated in Auckland, in his mid-twenties he took over W Gunson ...

. He represented the electorate of Eden from

1914 This year saw the beginning of what became known as World War I, after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austrian throne was Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip. It als ...

to 1926. He was Minister of Education (3 April 1920 – 24 April 1926) in three successive ministries of the Reform Government. He was

Minister of Public Health The Minister for Public Health and Women's Health is a junior ministerial post in the Scottish Government. The minister is not a member of the Scottish Cabinet, however, they report to the Cabinet Secretary for NHS Recovery, Health and Social Care. ...

(3 April 1920 – 27 June 1923) under

William Massey William Ferguson Massey (26 March 1856 – 10 May 1925), commonly known as Bill Massey, was a politician who served as the 19th prime minister of New Zealand from May 1912 to May 1925. He was the founding leader of the Reform Party, New Zea ...

. He was

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a v ...

(27 June 1923 – 18 January 1926) under Massey,

Francis Bell Francis Bell may refer to: * Arthur Bell (martyr) (1590–1643), also known as Francis Bell, Franciscan and English martyr *Dillon Bell (Francis Dillon Bell; 1822–1898), New Zealand politician, father of the New Zealand Prime Minister * Francis B ...

and

Gordon Coates Joseph Gordon Coates (3 February 1878 – 27 May 1943) served as the 21st prime minister of New Zealand from 1925 to 1928. He was the third successive Reform prime minister since 1912. Born in rural Northland, Coates grew up on a cattle run ...

. He was Postmaster General and Minister of Telegraphs (30 May 1925 – 24 April 1926) under Coates. On 11 March 1926, he opened the

Mount Albert Grammar School Mount Albert Grammar School, commonly known as MAGS, is a co-educational state secondary school in Mount Albert in Auckland, New Zealand. It teaches students in year levels 9 to 13. , Mount Albert Grammar School is the second largest school in ...

hall. He resigned from Parliament on 26 March 1926 to take up his appointment as High Commissioner in London. The resulting

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

was won by

Rex Mason Henry Greathead Rex Mason (3 June 1885 – 2 April 1975) was a New Zealand politician. He served as Attorney General, Minister of Justice, Minister of Education, and Minister of Native Affairs, and had a significant influence on the directi ...

of the Labour Party, because the Reform Party vote was split. As High Commissioner, Parr defended how New Zealand governed Western Samoa, which was C mandate under the League of Nations. New Zealand repressed freedoms of the press, freedoms of association, and free speech in Samoa, as well as banished those who criticized New Zealand's rule. Parr dismissed grievances that Samoans expressed about New Zealand's rule, describing them as a "simple and loveable race... ready to listen to any tale, and hence... most susceptible to the wiles of the agitator." He argued against democracy for Samoans. Parr falsely claimed that there was no "real Samoan desire for self-government." Parr was High Commissioner to the United Kingdom for just over three years (1 August 1926 – 31 December 1929). On his return to New Zealand, he was appointed a member of the Legislative Council on 9 October 1931. His wife died on 4 November 1933 and in mid November, he had been appointed High Commissioner again. He resigned from the Legislative council effective 31 December 1933 and commenced his second term as High Commissioner the following day; a post that he held until 31 August 1936. He retired in

Berkhamsted Berkhamsted ( ) is a historic market town in Hertfordshire, England, in the Bulbourne valley, north-west of London. The town is a civil parish with a town council within the borough of Dacorum which is based in the neighbouring large new town ...

, England and remarried there.

Awards and death

Parr was appointed Companion of the

Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, George III, King George III. ...

in 1914, promoted to Knight Commander in 1924 and further promoted to Knight Grand Cross in the 1935 King's Birthday Honours. He died on 2 May 1941 in Berkhamsted.

Notes

References

* , - , - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Parr, Christopher James 1869 births 1941 deaths Mayors of Auckland Members of the Cabinet of New Zealand New Zealand education ministers New Zealand Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George 19th-century New Zealand lawyers Reform Party (New Zealand) MPs Members of the New Zealand Legislative Council High Commissioners of New Zealand to the United Kingdom Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand MPs for Auckland electorates Unsuccessful candidates in the 1905 New Zealand general election People from Waikato New Zealand politicians awarded knighthoods Justice ministers of New Zealand