Sir James Carroll (
Māori
Māori or Maori can refer to:
Relating to the Māori people
* Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group
* Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand
* Māori culture
* Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...
: Timi Kara; 20 August 1857 – 18 October 1926), was a New Zealand politician of Irish and
Ngāti Kahungunu
Ngāti Kahungunu is a Māori iwi located along the eastern coast of the North Island of New Zealand. The iwi is traditionally centred in the Hawke's Bay and Wairārapa regions.
The tribe is organised into six geographical and administrative di ...
descent. Beginning his career as an interpreter and land agent, Carroll was elected to the Eastern Maori seat in
1887
Events
January–March
* January 11 – Louis Pasteur's anti-rabies treatment is defended in the Académie Nationale de Médecine, by Dr. Joseph Grancher.
* January 20
** The United States Senate allows the Navy to lease Pearl Har ...
. He was acting
Colonial Secretary (equivalent to the Minister of Internal Affairs) from 1897 to 1899. He was the first Māori to hold the cabinet position of
Minister of Native Affairs, which he held between 1899 and 1912. He was held in high regard within the
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
and was acting prime minister in 1909 and 1911.
Early life
James Carroll was born at
Wairoa
Wairoa is a town and territorial authority district in New Zealand's North Island. The town is the northernmost in the Hawke's Bay region, and is located on the northern shore of Hawke Bay at the mouth of the Wairoa River and to the west of ...
, one of eight children of Joseph Carroll, born in
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
of Irish descent, and Tapuke, a Māori woman of the Ngāti Kahungunu tribe (or ''iwi'' in the Maori language). He was educated both at
whare wananga (traditional Māori college) and the Wairoa native school but left early to be a farm worker. In 1870, while no more than thirteen, he was part of the Māori force pursuing
Te Kooti
Te Kooti Arikirangi Te Turuki (c. 1832–1893) was a Māori leader, the founder of the Ringatū religion and guerrilla fighter.
While fighting alongside government forces against the Hauhau in 1865, he was accused of spying. Exiled to the Cha ...
in the Urewera, and his bravery was mentioned in dispatches. He became a cadet for the Native Department in
Hawke's Bay
Hawke's Bay ( mi, Te Matau-a-Māui) is a local government region on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. The region's name derives from Hawke Bay, which was named by Captain James Cook in honour of Admiral Edward Hawke. The region is ...
and later in
Wellington
Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...
but was back on a farm by 1875. In 1881 he married
Heni Materoa and they settled in
Gisborne. The couple adopted several children but had none of their own.
Political career
![Mahuta Tawhiao with Seddon, 1898](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8c/Mahuta_Tawhiao_with_Seddon%2C_1898.jpg)
Carroll first stood for Parliament in 1884, unsuccessfully contesting the
Eastern Maori
Eastern Maori was one of New Zealand's four original parliamentary Māori electorates established in 1868, along with Northern Maori, Western Maori and Southern Maori. In 1996, with the introduction of MMP, the Maori electorates were updated, an ...
electorate against
Wi Pere
Wiremu "Wi" Pere (7 March 1837 – 9 December 1915), was a Māori Member of Parliament in New Zealand. He represented Eastern Māori in the House of Representatives from 1884 to 1887, and again from 1893 to 1905. Pere's strong criticism of th ...
.
By the
1887 election,
John Ballance
John Ballance (27 March 1839 – 27 April 1893) was an Irish-born New Zealand politician who was the 14th premier of New Zealand, from January 1891 to April 1893, the founder of the Liberal Party (the country's first organised political part ...
's paternalistic Native Land Administration Act of 1886, which proposed leasing Māori lands through a government commissioner, was a major issue. Carroll, an opponent of the act, won the electorate. He was confirmed in the next election in . In the , he stood in the
Waiapu electorate. From , he represented the electorate, until he was defeated in 1919.
Entering
Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
, Carroll wanted to create equality for Māori by allowing them to lease land and use the revenue to invest in their own farms. The settler preference was for freehold title, and this solution was favoured by the
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*Atkinson, Illinois, U.S.
* Atkinson, Indiana, U.S.
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*Atkinson Lake, a lake in Minnesota, U.S.
*Atkinson, Nebraska, U. ...
Government. He was appointed in March 1892 a member of the Executive Council representing the native race, and had to support the government in compulsory acquisition.
Te Kotahitanga
The Kotahitanga movement was an autonomous Māori parliament convened annually in New Zealand from 1892 until 1902. Though not recognised by the New Zealand Government, the Māori Parliament was an influential body while it lasted. By 1902 its ro ...
Māori MPs crtitcised Carroll's stance, and he decided to stand for the General Electorate of
Waiapu. He won this seat in 1893, the first time a Māori was elected to a General Electorate seat.
Te Kotahitanga continued to promote a separate law-making assembly for Māori, and Carroll travelled to Māori communities speaking out against separatism. In 1899, he became Native Minister in the Liberal Government, the first person of Māori descent to hold this office. He established the Māori Councils Act, which allowed local Māori committees to deal with health, sanitation and liquor control, and the Māori land councils, controlled by Māori and which could sell or lease land.
The settler view was that much of the North Island under Māori control should be developed, and Carroll as Native Minister to 1912 was under pressure to allow more land sales. Many Māori consider that he made too many concessions, but he always fought for the rights of Māori at a time when there was little support for his views.
Twice in the Liberal Government, Carroll acted as Prime Minister, and his status was confirmed by the awarding in 1911 of the
KCMG KCMG may refer to
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* Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George, British honour
* KCMG-LP, radio station in New Mexico, USA
* KCMG, callsign 1997-2001 of Los Angeles radio station KKLQ (FM) ...
, becoming the first Maori to be knighted. Carroll continued to represent the general electorate of
Gisborne until 1919, when he was defeated by
Douglas Lysnar
William Douglas Lysnar (30 April 1867 – 12 October 1942), known as Douglas Lysnar, was a New Zealand politician of the Reform Party (New Zealand), Reform Party.
Early life
He was born in Onehunga, Auckland, New Zealand on 30 April 1867. He ...
.
On 2 September 1921, Carroll was appointed to the
Legislative Council by Prime Minister
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 ...
. From the Upper House of New Zealand, he was able to support
Āpirana Ngata
Sir Āpirana Turupa Ngata (3 July 1874 – 14 July 1950) was a prominent New Zealand statesman. He has often been described as the foremost Māori politician to have served in Parliament in the mid-20th century, and is also known for his work ...
and other rising Māori leaders.
He died suddenly in Auckland from kidney failure on 18 October 1926. His body was returned to Gisborne, where he was buried at Makaraka.
Farmer and politician
Turi Carroll was a nephew.
Further reading
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Notes
External links
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References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Carroll, James
1857 births
1926 deaths
New Zealand Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George
New Zealand MPs for Māori electorates
Members of the Cabinet of New Zealand
Members of the New Zealand Legislative Council
New Zealand farmers
New Zealand Liberal Party MPs
New Zealand people of Irish descent
Ngāti Kahungunu people
People from Wairoa
People of the New Zealand Wars
New Zealand Liberal Party MLCs
Māori MLCs
Deaths from kidney failure
Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives
New Zealand MPs for North Island electorates
Unsuccessful candidates in the 1884 New Zealand general election
Unsuccessful candidates in the 1919 New Zealand general election
Colonial Secretaries of New Zealand
19th-century New Zealand politicians
New Zealand politicians awarded knighthoods