Sir Thomas Mason Wilford (20 June 1870 – 22 June 1939) was a New Zealand politician. He held the seats of
Wellington Suburbs then
Hutt continuously for thirty years, from 1899 to 1929. Wilford was leader of the
New Zealand Liberal Party
The New Zealand Liberal Party was the first organised political party in New Zealand. It governed from 1891 until 1912. The Liberal strategy was to create a large class of small land-owning farmers who supported Liberal ideals, by buying larg ...
, and
Leader of the Opposition from 1920 to 1925.
Early life
Wilford was born in
Lower Hutt in 1870. His parents were the surgeon John George Frederick Wilford and his wife, Elizabeth Catherine Mason. His grandfather on his mother's side was
Thomas Mason. Wilford was a keen sportsman and athlete in his youth and competed in several sports including rugby, tennis and boxing. He obtained his education at
Wellington College Wellington College may refer to:
*Wellington College, Berkshire, an independent school in Crowthorne, Berkshire, England
** Wellington College International Shanghai
** Wellington College International Tianjin
* Wellington College, Wellington, Ne ...
in the
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 metr ...
suburb of
Mount Victoria, followed by
Christ's College in
Christchurch
Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...
. He passed his examinations as a lawyer at age 18, but could not be admitted to the bar until he had reached the legal age of 21.
He married Georgia Constance McLean, daughter of
George McLean, on 17 February 1892 at
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 ...
. They had one son and one daughter.
Member of Parliament
Wilford was elected to the
Wellington Suburbs electorate in the
1896 general election, but the result was declared void after an election petition on the grounds of corrupt and illegal practices as Wilford had exceeded the £200 election spending limit which had only recently been introduced.
Charles Wilson was elected MP for that electorate following 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 ...
on 23 April 1897.
Wilford then won the
Wellington Suburbs electorate in the and the new
Hutt electorate from the , which he held until he resigned on 18 November 1929.
He was
Chairman of Committees from 1909 to 1910.
Wilford was a member of the
Wellington Harbour Board
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from 1900 to 1910, and chaired the Board from 1908 onwards. In
1901
Events
January
* January 1 – The British colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia federate as the Commonwealth of Australia; Edmund Barton becomes the first Prime Minist ...
Wilford ran for the Wellington mayoralty, losing to incumbent mayor
John Aitken by 3,069 votes.
He championed the redevelopment of the Hutt Road and railway linking Wellington city to the Hutt Valley from 1899 and 1911, skillfully working with and around local body groups to achieve a rather costly upgrade of the existing infrastructure. He resigned from the Harbour Board when he became
Mayor of Wellington
The Mayor of Wellington is the head of the municipal government of the City of Wellington. The mayor presides over the Wellington City Council. The mayor is directly elected using the Single Transferable Vote method of proportional representat ...
in 1910 for one year. After being re-elected unopposed he resigned as mayor of Wellington due to health issues.
Wilford almost died in 1911 after complications following an appendicitis operation. His health was to never fully recover. Wilford was forced to sail to England in early 1912 for more advanced surgery and during this long absence his position within the Liberal party was significantly weakened.
Minister
He was
Minister of Justice
A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...
,
Minister of Marine
One of France's Secretaries of State under the Ancien Régime was entrusted with control of the French Navy ( Secretary of State of the Navy (France).) In 1791, this title was changed to Minister of the Navy. Before January 1893, this position als ...
and Minister of Stamps in the
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 ...
National government from 14 November 1917 to 22 August 1919 under
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 ...
.
At a May 1919 caucus meeting to discuss the coalition between the Liberal and Reform parties a majority of members voted in favour of ending the arrangement upon leader Sir
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 ...
's return from Europe. Wilford worked with his colleagues (particularly
William MacDonald and
George Warren Russell
George Warren Russell (24 February 1854 – 28 June 1937) was a New Zealand politician from Christchurch. He served as Minister of Internal Affairs and Minister of Public Health in the wartime National government, and was responsible for the N ...
) to develop an updated policy manifesto for the next election. Following Ward's failure to gain re-election to parliament at the
1919 general election, Wilford nominated MacDonald to assume the leadership of 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 ...
.
Leader of the Opposition
Wilford became the Leader of the Liberal Party and therefore
Leader of the Opposition upon the death of
William MacDonald in 1920. However, he was initially hampered in this position due to many Liberal MPs' wishes to remain leaderless until their defeated leader,
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 ...
could re-enter Parliament. By 1922 Wilford had achieved a reconciliation with the Liberal's dissidents and contested the as party leader.
There was talk of a proposed alliance of sorts between the Liberal and Labour parties in order to avoid vote splitting, similar to the
Lib-Lab Pact in the UK. Wilford entered into discussions with Labour leader
Harry Holland
Henry Edmund Holland (10 June 1868 – 8 October 1933) was an Australian-born newspaper owner, politician and unionist who relocated to New Zealand. He was the second leader of the New Zealand Labour Party.
Early life
Holland was born at G ...
over a joint campaign and upon winning, forming a coalition to set up a proportional representation electoral system. The talks broke down however after Wilford demanded to hold office for a full term before holding an election under the new system.
The Liberals fared better under Wilford's leadership in 1922 than in the previous election, gaining an additional five seats. This can partly be attributed to Labour not standing candidates in all electorates against the Liberals in line with the ultimately failed joint campaign talks. However, the Liberals were still unable to regain office and by 1925, Wilford had yielded the leadership to
George Forbes.
Labour politician,
John A. Lee, a colleague who knew Wilford well, stated that while no one could have saved the Liberal party from its ultimate demise, if Wilford had been in better health, he would have delayed it, returning the Liberals to power and served as Prime Minister himself.
United Party
From 10 December 1928 to 10 December 1929 he was Minister of Justice for a second period, in the cabinet of Joseph Ward. Wilford was also
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 ...
in the United ministry. This was a reflection that he "had a long-standing interest in naval policy, especially the Singapore Base, ... had travelled extensively in the Pacific and the Far East", and he "was regarded as something of a specialist in Far Eastern questions."
Post-parliamentary career
On 29 October 1929, Wilford was appointed
King's Counsel. He resigned from Parliament on 18 November 1929 to become
High Commissioner to the United Kingdom
The following is the list of ambassadors and high commissioners to the United Kingdom, or more formally, to the Court of St James's. High commissioners represent member states of the Commonwealth of Nations and ambassadors represent other sta ...
. In the
1930 King's Birthday Honours, Wilford was appointed a
Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George. In 1935, he was awarded the
King George V Silver Jubilee Medal.
Death
Wilford died at Wellington on 22 June 1939, survived by his wife and two children.
His wife, Georgia, Lady Wilford, died in
Cheltenham, England, in 1952.
See also
*
List of King's and Queen's Counsel in New Zealand
The office of King's Counsel was established in New Zealand in 1907. During the reign of a male sovereign, appointees are called King's Counsel, and this applied from 1907 to 1952 during the reign of Edward VII (1907–1910), George V (1910–193 ...
*
Electoral history of Thomas Wilford
Notes
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilford, Thomas
1870 births
1939 deaths
Mayors of Wellington
Members of the Cabinet of New Zealand
New Zealand defence ministers
New Zealand Liberal Party MPs
Leaders of political parties in New Zealand
Leaders of the Opposition (New Zealand)
New Zealand MPs for Hutt Valley electorates
New Zealand MPs for Wellington electorates
Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives
High Commissioners of New Zealand to the United Kingdom
New Zealand King's Counsel
New Zealand Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George
People from Lower Hutt
People educated at Wellington College (New Zealand)
People educated at Christ's College, Christchurch
Wellington Harbour Board members
19th-century New Zealand politicians
New Zealand politicians convicted of crimes
New Zealand politicians awarded knighthoods
Justice ministers of New Zealand