Sir John Hall (18 December 1824 – 25 June 1907) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 12th

premier of New Zealand The prime minister of New Zealand ( mi, Te pirimia o Aotearoa) is the head of government of New Zealand. The prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, leader of the New Zealand Labour Party, took office on 26 October 2017. The prime minister (informa ...

from 1879 to 1882. He was born in

Kingston upon Hull Kingston upon Hull, usually abbreviated to Hull, is a port city and unitary authority in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Estuary, inland from the North Sea and south-east ...

, England, the third son of George Hall, a captain in the navy. At the age of ten he was sent to school in Switzerland and his education continued in Paris and Hamburg. After returning to England and being employed by the Post Office, at the age of 27 he decided to emigrate. He was also

Mayor of Christchurch The Mayor of Christchurch is the head of the municipal government of Christchurch, New Zealand, and presides over the Christchurch City Council. The mayor is directly elected using a First Past the Post electoral system. The current mayor, Ph ...

Migration to New Zealand

After reading a book on sheep farming, Hall emigrated to New Zealand, on the ''Samarang'', arriving in Lyttelton on 31 July 1852. His brothers

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and Thomas followed him to New Zealand soon after. He developed one of the first large scale sheep farming runs in Canterbury.

Political offices

In 1853, he was elected to the

Canterbury Provincial Council The Canterbury Province was a province of New Zealand from 1853 until the abolition of provincial government in 1876. Its capital was Christchurch. History Canterbury was founded in December 1850 by the Canterbury Association of influential Eng ...

. He would later rise through the ranks of magistrate, was the first town council Chairman in Christchurch (the forerunner to the position of mayor, 1862 and 1863), and Postmaster-General. In Parliament he represented the electorates of

Christchurch Country Christchurch Country was a parliamentary electorate in the Canterbury region of New Zealand from 1853 to 1860. It was thus one of the original 24 electorates used for the 1st New Zealand Parliament. Geography The area covered by the Christchurc ...

1855–60 (resigned in early 1860),

Heathcote 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 ...

1866–70 & 1871–72 (resigned), Selwyn 1879–83 (resigned) & 1887–90, and Ellesmere 1890–93 (retired). In the 1865–66 election, he contested the Heathcote electorate against G. Buckley, and they received 338 and 239 votes, respectively. Hall was a member of the Legislative Council from 1876 to 1879 before resigning, wishing to re-enter the lower house. Thinking his previous seat of Heathcote unsuitable for his candidacy he accepted the offer of the retiring

Cecil Fitzroy Cecil Augustus Fitzroy (10 January 1844 – 13 November 1917) was a 19th-century Member of Parliament from the Canterbury region of New Zealand, and later Mayor of Hastings. Early life Fitzroy was born in Norfolk, England, in 1844. His fathe ...

to stand in his vacated seat of Selwyn and was elected for it unopposed at the 1879 general election. At the same election the opposition leader, William Fox, was defeated leading Fox to invite Hall to succeed him on 6 September. Hall accepted the leadership and at the first opposition caucus following the election he was confirmed as leader, being elected unanimously.

Premier of New Zealand

On 8 October 1879, he was appointed the Premier of New Zealand, where his ministry carried out reforms of the male suffrage (extending voting rights) and dealt with a conflict between settlers and Māori at

Parihaka Parihaka is a community in the Taranaki region of New Zealand, located between Mount Taranaki and the Tasman Sea. In the 1870s and 1880s the settlement, then reputed to be the largest Māori village in New Zealand, became the centre of a major camp ...

, although poor health caused him to resign the position less than three years later. In the 1882 Birthday Honours, he was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George.

Immigration

Although Chinese immigrants were invited to New Zealand by the Dunedin Chamber of Commerce, prejudice against them quickly led to calls for restrictions on immigration. Following the example of anti-Chinese poll taxes enacted by California in 1852 and by Australian states in the 1850s, 1860s and 1870s, John Hall's government passed the Chinese Immigration Act 1881. This imposed a £10 tax per Chinese person entering New Zealand, and permitted only one Chinese immigrant for every 10 tons of cargo.

Richard Seddon Richard John Seddon (22 June 1845 – 10 June 1906) was a New Zealand politician who served as the List of prime ministers of New Zealand, 15th Prime Minister of New Zealand, premier (prime minister) of New Zealand from 1893 until his death. ...

's government increased the tax to £100 per head in 1896, and tightened the other restriction to only one Chinese immigrant for every 200 tons of cargo.

Women's suffrage

Hall took an active interest in women's rights. He moved the Parliamentary Bill that gave women in New Zealand the vote (1893), (the first country in the world to do so), he became the honorary Mayor of Christchurch, for the New Zealand International Exhibition from 1 November 1906 to 15 April 1907. Despite the distances involved, Hall made several visits back to England and maintained his contacts there, especially with the

Leathersellers' Company The Worshipful Company of Leathersellers is one of the livery companies of the City of London. The organisation originates from the latter part of the fourteenth century and received its Royal Charter in 1444, and is therefore the senior leath ...

, of which he was a Liveryman for 55 years. Hall had married Rose Dryden in England, daughter of William Dryden of

, after returning there in 1860. They went back to New Zealand in 1863. They had five children and one of their granddaughters,

Mary Grigg Mary Victoria Cracroft Grigg, Lady Polson, (née Wilson; 18 August 1897 – 22 December 1971) was a New Zealand politician of the National Party. Early life She was born as Mary Victoria Cracroft Wilson at Culverden in 1897. Her parents were ...

, later became an MP for the National Party. Hall died in Christchurch on 25 June 1907, shortly after the International Exhibition had finished. He is buried in the St. John cemetery in

Hororata Hororata is a village at the northwestern edge of the Canterbury Plains in the South Island of New Zealand. It is located 15 kilometres southwest of Darfield, New Zealand, Darfield, five kilometres south of Glentunnel, and 50 kilometre ...

References

Sources

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