Sir James Allen (10 February 1855 – 28 July 1942) was a prominent New Zealand politician and

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...

. He held a number of the most important political offices in the country, including

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

and

Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

. He was also New Zealand's

Minister of Defence A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Early life

Allen was born in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. After his mother's early death, his father took him to

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

, New Zealand, where the family resided for several years. In either 1861 or 1862, however, Allen and his brother were given into the care of an uncle in

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Shortly afterwards, Allen's father also died, leaving him an orphan. Despite this rather turbulent beginning to his life, Allen made a good start. After first attending

Clifton College ''The spirit nourishes within'' , established = 160 years ago , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent boarding and day school , religion = Christian , president = , head_label = Head of College , hea ...

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

(having won a scholarship to do so), he gained admittance to St John's College at

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...

. He graduated with a BA in 1877. Shortly afterwards, Allen decided to return to Dunedin, where he had inherited a significant amount of property from his father. In Dunedin, Allen was highly successful, serving on the City Council and even playing for the

Otago Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

provincial

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

team. He left for England once again in 1883, studying at the

Royal School of Mines The Royal School of Mines comprises the departments of Earth Science and Engineering, and Materials at Imperial College London. The Centre for Advanced Structural Ceramics and parts of the London Centre for Nanotechnology and Department of Bioe ...

for several years. When he returned to Dunedin, he established a presence in Otago's coal and gold mining industries.

Early parliamentary career

In 1887, Allen decided to enter national politics, standing in the

Dunedin East Dunedin East was a parliamentary electorate in the city of Dunedin in the Otago region of New Zealand from 1881 to 1890. Population centres The previous electoral redistribution was undertaken in 1875 for the 1875–1876 election. In the six ye ...

seat as a conservative opponent to

Robert Stout Sir Robert Stout (28 September 1844 – 19 July 1930) was a New Zealand politician who was the 13th premier of New Zealand on two occasions in the late 19th century, and later Chief Justice of New Zealand. He was the only person to hold bot ...

, the Premier. Few expected a first-time challenger to defeat the Premier, but amazingly, Allen did just that. Allen's own tenure as MP for Dunedin East was short, however, as he was himself voted out of office at the next (1890)

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

. In 1892, however, Allen returned to

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

after winning a

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 ...

in the rural Otago electorate of

Bruce The English language name Bruce arrived in Scotland with the Normans, from the place name Brix, Manche in Normandy, France, meaning "the willowlands". Initially promulgated via the descendants of king Robert the Bruce (1274−1329), it has been ...

, which he held until he retired in 1920. Gradually, Allen developed a reputation as a solid performer in Parliament. He lacked the skills at oratory of some of his contemporaries, and was often seen as humourless and uncharismatic. But he was nevertheless considered dependable, reasonable, and practical. He was sometimes cited as a possible leader for Parliament's conservative faction, but when the conservatives eventually came together to found the Reform Party, the more charismatic

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 ...

became leader instead.

Ministerial career

When

Reform Reform ( lat, reformo) means the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The use of the word in this way emerges in the late 18th century and is believed to originate from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement ...

won the 1911 election,

Massey Massey may refer to: Places Canada * Massey, Ontario * Massey Island, Nunavut New Zealand * Massey, New Zealand, an Auckland suburb United States * Massey, Alabama * Massey, Iowa * Massey, Maryland People * Massey (surname) Educati ...

became

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

and Allen was elevated to

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

. His primary responsibilities were finance, education, and defence in the Reform Government, and he was very active in all three portfolios. As

, he attempted (with only a limited degree of success) to curtail the spending of the outgoing Premier,

Joseph Ward Sir Joseph George Ward, 1st Baronet, (26 April 1856 – 8 July 1930) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 17th prime minister of New Zealand from 1906 to 1912 and from 1928 to 1930. He was a dominant figure in the Liberal and Unit ...

, believing strongly in the need to reduce New Zealand's overseas borrowing. As Minister of Education, he was responsible for legislation that guaranteed statutory funding for

universities A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...

. As

, he encouraged New Zealand's development of naval and air capabilities independent of the

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, and worked to improve the quality of compulsory military training. He also reversed the previous government's policy of opposing close defence co-operation with

, Allen was a major figure in New Zealand's war effort, playing a very significant organisational role. His reforms of the military training programme were widely credited with allowing a rapid deployment of New Zealand forces, including the forces which invaded and occupied

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

(then a territory of

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). In August 1915, a war-time coalition government was formed, and Allen lost his finance and education roles to members of the erstwhile Opposition, but he continued to play a significant role. Towards the end of the war, when both Massey (the Prime Minister) and Ward (the Leader of the Opposition) travelled overseas for meetings and conferences, Allen was Acting

- in total, he spent nearly two years in this role. The stress of his many responsibilities during the war was considerable, and was only worsened when his son was killed in the ill-fated landing at Gallipoli. Allen was appointed an Officer of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

in February 1922 when he was High Commissioner in London.

Subsequent activities

After the war, the coalition government collapsed, and James Allen once again became

. In October 1919, he was made the first

Minister of External Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...

, a new ministerial portfolio that was created to administer New Zealand's newly acquired League of Nations Mandate

. He took up these posts reluctantly, describing himself as weary of politics. In 1920, he resigned from

to take up a position as New Zealand's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. He also represented New Zealand at the

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...

, taking a prominent part in the League's Permanent Mandates Commission. After returning to New Zealand, Allen became active in a number of organisations. Reflecting his long-held interest in the Pacific Islands, which had been stimulated by a number of visits in the course of his political career, he was a prominent member of the Institute of Pacific Relations, whose New Zealand branch he chaired from its formation in 1926 until late 1937. He was active in

All Saints' Church, Dunedin All Saints has been open since 1865, and is presently in the Dunedin North parish which includes the northern part of the city of Dunedin, New Zealand and is made up of the former parish of All Saints and the former parish of St. Martin's North ...

and also vice-president of the Bible-in-Schools League, reflecting a cause which he had controversially championed while Minister of Education. On 1 June 1927, Allen was appointed to the Legislative Council, the (now-abolished) upper house of Parliament. The Legislative Council was considerably more sedate than the lower house, and Allen was not overly stressed by its activities. At the end of his first term in 1934, he was reappointed (until 1941). Allen retired from public life in 1938, and died in

on 28 July 1942.

Honours and awards

Allen was appointed a

Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved Bathing#Medieval ...

in the 1917 New Year Honours, and a

Knight Grand Cross 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, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III. It is named in honour ...

in the 1926 New Year Honours. He was awarded the King George V Silver Jubilee Medal in 1935.

Notes

External links

Photo of James Allen addressing Returned Soldiers at Rarotonga, 1919
{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, James 1855 births 1942 deaths Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Australian emigrants to New Zealand Officiers of the Légion d'honneur New Zealand recipients of the Légion d'honneur Members of the Cabinet of New Zealand Members of the New Zealand Legislative Council New Zealand defence ministers New Zealand education ministers New Zealand MPs for South Island electorates New Zealand finance ministers New Zealand foreign ministers Reform Party (New Zealand) MPs Politicians from Adelaide People educated at Clifton College Permanent Representatives of New Zealand to the League of Nations New Zealand MPs for Dunedin electorates Burials at Dunedin Northern Cemetery High Commissioners of New Zealand to the United Kingdom Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George New Zealand Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Unsuccessful candidates in the 1890 New Zealand general election 19th-century New Zealand politicians Dunedin City Councillors New Zealand politicians awarded knighthoods Chancellors of the University of Otago