John Kendrick Archer (3 March 1865 – 25 July 1949) was a

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

Minister,

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, Phil ...

and 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

Archer was born in

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

, England on 3 March 1865, the son of Mary Kendrick and her husband, Thomas Archer, a master butcher. John was raised as a Methodist and educated at Market Bosworth Grammar School, Leicestershire, and

University College Nottingham , mottoeng = A city is built on wisdom , established = 1798 – teacher training college1881 – University College Nottingham1948 – university status , type = Public , chancellor ...

. From 1888 to 1891 he attended

Midland Baptist College New Connexion of General Baptists was a revivalist offshoot from the Arminian Baptist tradition, one of two main strands within the British Baptist movement. Formed in 1770, whilst the New Connexion owes its existence to Dan Taylor, the Yorkshire- ...

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

. In 1901 he made a tentative entry into public life, being elected to the board of

Hebden Bridge Grammar School Hebden may refer to: People * Hebden (surname) Places in England *Hebden, North Yorkshire, England, a village *Hebden Royd, a civil parish in West Yorkshire, England **Hebden Bridge, a town thereof ***Hebden Bridge railway station Hebden ...

. He was a poor law guardian at

Grimsby Grimsby or Great Grimsby is a port town and the administrative centre of North East Lincolnshire, Lincolnshire, England. Grimsby adjoins the town of Cleethorpes directly to the south-east forming a conurbation. Grimsby is north-east of Linco ...

from 1907 to 1908. He married Phoebe Elizabeth Gee on 10 July 1894 at the Baptist chapel,

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

, Northamptonshire and they had two sons. Rev Archer and his family came to New Zealand in 1908.

Baptist church involvement

After his ordination in 1891 he served in the north of England as pastor at Peterborough (1891–1895), Heptonstall Slack (1895–1903) and Grimsby (1903–1908). When Archer and his family moved to New Zealand in 1908, he became minister of the Baptist Church,

Napier Napier may refer to: People * Napier (surname), including a list of people with that name * Napier baronets, five baronetcies and lists of the title holders Given name * Napier Shaw (1854–1945), British meteorologist * Napier Waller (1893–19 ...

until 1913 and serving as chairman of the Main School Committee and the local Technical Education Board. Subsequently, he was minister at Esk Street,

Invercargill Invercargill ( , mi, Waihōpai is the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand, and one of the southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland region. The city lies in the heart of the wide expanse of t ...

(1913–1916), and Vivian Street, Wellington (1916–1919). He also served for part of that time as a military chaplain at Tauherenikau Camp, near Featherston. From 1919 until 1932 he was minister of the Baptist Church in Sydenham, Christchurch. After his retirement in 1932 he remained active in the church, serving as president of the Canterbury Auxiliary of the Baptist Union, organising a Sunday school in Christchurch and helping to start a Baptist church at Greymouth. He was President of the Baptist Union of New Zealand between 1916–1918 and Foundation President of the Invercargill WEA (

Workers Educational Association The Workers' Educational Association (WEA), founded in 1903, is the UK's largest voluntary sector provider of adult education and one of Britain's biggest charities. The WEA is a democratic and voluntary adult education movement. It delivers lea ...

) in 1915.

Political career

Local body

In 1914 he was transferred to

and, while there, spent 12 months on the borough council. He was a Councillor for Invercargill Borough in 1915–1916. He next went to

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 ...

, leaving there for the

Trentham Military Camp Trentham Military Camp is a New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) facility located in Trentham, Upper Hutt, near Wellington. Originally a New Zealand Army installation, it is now run by Defence and accommodates all three services. It also hosts Joint ...

where he served as a chaplain until the end of the war. He served as a Councillor for

Christchurch City Council The Christchurch City Council is the local government authority for Christchurch in New Zealand. It is a territorial authority elected to represent the people of Christchurch. Since October 2022, the Mayor of Christchurch is Phil Mauger, who ...

from 1921 to 1925 and from 1931 to 1935. He was

from 1925 to 1931. He was also a top-polling candidate for the North Canterbury Hospital Board and served on the Christchurch Tramway Board and Christchurch Fire Board.

Labour Party

Archer was not only a prominent leader in the Baptist church but also gave long and influential service to the early New Zealand Labour Party. Prior to its formation in 1916 he was an active advocate of such a party. In 1910 at Napier he delivered six evening lectures on socialism, and in 1913 he was editor of the ''United Labour Leader''. Following the July 1913 unity congress he joined the new

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

, which was absorbed into the Labour Party in 1916. Archer stood unsuccessfully as Labour candidate for the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

four times: in (), ( and ), and (). He was President of the

New Zealand Labour Party The New Zealand Labour Party ( mi, Rōpū Reipa o Aotearoa), or simply Labour (), is a centre-left political party in New Zealand. The party's platform programme describes its founding principle as democratic socialism, while observers descr ...

in 1928–1929, and its Vice-President 1922–1925, 1927–1928 and 1929–1931. 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 ...

Legislative Council

He was a member of the

1937–1949.

Death

Described as 'a man of war from his youth up', Archer was a blunt, some suggested abrasive, man. Certainly, he was not one to compromise his principles or the message which he believed had been entrusted to him by God. His preaching and actions reflected the moral righteousness and millennialism of British puritanism and the urgent and total commitment to social change of the Old Testament prophets such as Isaiah and Amos. Nonconformist in religion and politics, he argued that 'faith without works is dead' and that imperfect human relationships arose out of economic and social injustice caused by sin, which he defined as selfishness and the worship of material self-interest. To Archer there was no conflict between his political and religious activities; both were the same sacred vocation. In 1944 the Archers celebrated their golden wedding. In 1949 ill-health forced Archer to retire from the Legislative Council. Rev Archer died in Christchurch on 25 July 1949. He was survived by his wife, Phoebe, and two sons. Phoebe Elizabeth Archer, 87, died on 13 November 1953. The Baptist Union bought the couple's home at 166 Colombo Street and obtained a pound for pound subsidy from the Government with the intention that this should become 'a home for aged Baptists of the Canterbury-Westland Auxiliary Area'. Eventually the property was vested in the Baptist Union of New Zealand and the emphasis on the residents being Baptists removed. Instead the home would provide the residents with 'a maximum of individuality' and 'comfort and Christian fellowship for their declining years'. The institution was named in John and Phoebe's honour 'as an expression of thanksgiving to Almighty God for the outstanding and devoted service of the late Rev. and Mrs. J. K. Archer and as a permanent memorial'. One of the Archers' sons, Kendrick Gee, was born at

Heptonstall Heptonstall is a small village and civil parish within the Calderdale borough of West Yorkshire, England, historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire. The population of Heptonstall, including the hamlets of Colden and Slack Top, is 1,448 ...

in the historic county of the West Riding, Yorkshire. He was educated at

and at

Southland Boys' High School Southland Boys' High School (SBHS) is an all-boys school in Invercargill, New Zealand, and has been the only one in the city since Marist Brothers was merged with St Catherines to form Verdon College in 1982. History SBHS was founded in 1881 and ...

. In 1914 the

Royal Humane Society The Royal Humane Society is a British charity which promotes lifesaving intervention. It was founded in England in 1774 as the ''Society for the Recovery of Persons Apparently Drowned'', for the purpose of rendering first aid in cases of near dro ...

awarded him its bronze medal and he graduated with an LL.B. from

Canterbury University College The University of Canterbury ( mi, Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was f ...

, before practising as a barrister and solicitor in Christchurch.