Sir John Davies Wilder Ormond (8 September 1905 – 8 March 1995) was a New Zealand businessman and farmer.

Early life and family

Born at

Waipukurau Waipukurau is the largest town in the Central Hawke's Bay District on the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is located on the banks of the Tukituki River, 7 kilometres south of Waipawa and 50 kilometres southwest of Hastings. H ...

, New Zealand, Ormond was the son of John Davies Ormond Jr and Emilie Mary Gladys Wilder. He was educated at Christ's College, New Zealand. His sports were tennis and rugby. He married Judith Wall on 26 August 1939. They had four sons and one daughter. He was the grandson of John Davies Ormond and brother-in-law of the politician Sir Hugh John Dyke Acland. His great uncle was Edward John Eyre, former governor of Jamaica. His cousin is the headmistress, Ormond Felicity Lusk.

Political career

He started out with a large sheep and cattle run. Later he was elected to the Waipukurau Branch of the

New Zealand Farmers' Union New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

(1927–1930). During the 1930s he "''...was a leading proponent of the

New Zealand Legion The New Zealand Legion was a political organisation founded in New Zealand during the Great Depression. Its ideology was a mixture of nationalism, individualism, and social conservatism. It is sometimes considered to be a fascist (or at least cr ...

...''" a radical, right-wing party, but when this proved ineffective he stood in the , in the electorate as an Independent

Reformer A reformer is someone who works for reform. Reformer may also refer to: *Catalytic reformer, in an oil refinery *Methane reformer, producing hydrogen * Steam reformer *Hydrogen reformer, extracting hydrogen *Methanol reformer, producing hydrogen ...

. He split the right vote, taking support from the official United/Reform Coalition candidate,

Albert Jull Albert Edward Jull (6 December 1864 – 24 September 1940) was a New Zealand politician of the Liberal Party, the United Party and from 1938 the National Party. Canada Jull was born in Fort Eria, Canada West, in 1864. He received his educa ...

. The Democrats also had a candidate, which further contributed to vote splitting on the right, and the electorate went to the

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

candidate, Max Christie. In the , he contested the electorate for the National Party, but was beaten by the incumbent,

's Bill Barnard. 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 ...

Wartime service

During World War II, he served in Greece, and received the

British Empire Medal The British Empire Medal (BEM; formerly British Empire Medal for Meritorious Service) is a British and Commonwealth award for meritorious civil or military service worthy of recognition by the Crown. The current honour was created in 1922 to ...

for diving off a troopship attempting to rescue a drowning man. Wounded in action he was invalided back to New Zealand, where he served as instructor and rose to the rank of army captain.

Postwar career

After the war, he saw the need for New Zealand to ship products abroad. He was the longtime chairman of the

New Zealand Meat Producers Board The New Zealand Meat Board is a statutory body which provides quota management on behalf of the Crown for meat exports to the United States, European Union and United Kingdom. To protect their own livestock industry these countries give limited ac ...

, beginning in 1951. Later in life he organised the Shipping Corporation of New Zealand. He was its chairman until September 1979. In his later life, Ormond retired to his cattle and sheep run. In the

1964 Queen's Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours 1964 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The appointments were made to celebrate ...

, he was appointed a Knight Bachelor, in recognition of his role as chairman of the Meat Producers Board. In 1977, he was awarded the

Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal The Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal (french: link=no, Médaille du jubilé d'argent de la reine Elizabeth II) is a commemorative medal created in 1977 to mark the 25th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's accession in 1952. The medal is p ...

. The Sir John Ormond Fellowship is named in his honour.

Notes

References

* * * The New Zealand Herald Business section 19 January 2001 {{DEFAULTSORT:Ormond, John 1905 births 1995 deaths 20th-century New Zealand businesspeople New Zealand farmers New Zealand Army officers People educated at Christ's College, Christchurch New Zealand recipients of the British Empire Medal New Zealand Knights Bachelor New Zealand military personnel of World War II Unsuccessful candidates in the 1938 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1935 New Zealand general election New Zealand National Party politicians People from Waipukurau Businesspeople awarded knighthoods New Zealand justices of the peace John