Sir William Fitzherbert (15 August 1810 – 6 February 1891) was a New Zealand politician. He served as

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", " ...

, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and Speaker of the Legislative Council.

Early life

Fitzherbert was born in

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

, England, on 15 August 1810. He was educated at

Sherborne Sherborne is a market town and civil parish in north west Dorset, in South West England. It is sited on the River Yeo, on the edge of the Blackmore Vale, east of Yeovil. The parish includes the hamlets of Nether Coombe and Lower Clatcombe. T ...

and studied medicine in Paris and London. Late in 1840 or early 1841 he married Sarah Jane Leigh in London. They came to New Zealand in 1841, settling 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 ...

. They later moved to ''Willow Bank'' a house in Lower Hutt and entertained parliamentarians there (which may account for the street's name of "Parliament Street"). The house now has a Historic Places Trust "C" classification.

Political career

Member of Parliament

He soon became active in politics, serving both on the

Wellington Provincial Council Wellington Province, governed by the Wellington Provincial Council, was one of the provinces of New Zealand from 1853 until the abolition of provincial government in 1876. It covered much of the southern half of the North Island until November ...

and in the

New Zealand Parliament The New Zealand Parliament ( mi, Pāremata Aotearoa) is the unicameral legislature of New Zealand, consisting of the King of New Zealand ( King-in-Parliament) and the New Zealand House of Representatives. The King is usually represented by h ...

. He was elected to the Wellington Provincial Council for the City of Wellington division at the

1853 New Zealand provincial elections The 1853 New Zealand provincial elections were the first elections in New Zealand to elect members and superintendents to the newly created Provinces of New Zealand. The elections were held between July and September 1853, at the same time as th ...

. He was elected to the 2nd Parliament as a representative of the City of Wellington electorate, but resigned part way through the term to successfully seek election as representative for the Hutt electorate, which happened on 31 July 1858. He contested the general election on 29 December 1875 against William Hutchison and obtained 178 votes, with Hutchison receiving 38. He retained the Hutt electorate until his resignation in 1879, so that he could appointed to the Legislative Council. He also served as Colonial Treasurer (

) for the duration of

Frederick Weld Sir Frederick Aloysius Weld (9 May 1823 – 20 July 1891), was a New Zealand politician and a governor of various British colonies. He was the sixth premier of New Zealand, and later served as Governor of Western Australia, Governor of Tasman ...

's premiership. His younger son

Henry Henry may refer to: People *Henry (given name) * Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...

represented the Hutt electorate from 1884–90. His other son,

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

, later became

Mayor of Lower Hutt The city of Lower Hutt, New Zealand, was first proclaimed a borough on 1 February 1891. Prior to this it had been part of Hutt County, initially as a Roads Board and from 1881 as a Town Board. Since 2019, the mayor has been Campbell Barry. Li ...

Wellington Province

Fitzherbert was

Superintendent Superintendent may refer to: *Superintendent (police), Superintendent of Police (SP), or Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), a police rank *Prison warden or Superintendent, a prison administrator *Superintendent (ecclesiastical), a church exec ...

of the

Wellington Province Wellington Province, governed by the Wellington Provincial Council, was one of the provinces of New Zealand from 1853 until the abolition of provincial government in 1876. It covered much of the southern half of the North Island until November 18 ...

from 1871 until the abolition of the provinces in 1876. The

Palmerston North Palmerston North (; mi, Te Papa-i-Oea, known colloquially as Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatu Plains, the city is near the north bank of the ...

suburb of Aokautere was once named after Fitzherbert, as he had promoted settlement of the Manawatu. The Fitzherbert East Dairy Factory building still carries the name these days.

Speaker of the House

He served as Speaker of the House of Representatives from 1876 until his appointment to the Legislative Council, and then as Speaker of the Legislative Council until his death. He was appointed a Knight Commander 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, George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, George III, King George III. ...

in 1877.

Death

Fitzherbert died on 6 February 1891 at his residence in Lower Hutt. He was buried at Lower Hutt cemetery on 10 February next to his late wife, who had died on 21 August 1886. He was survived by his daughter and two sons; William Alfred Fitzherbert) (mayor) and

Henry Samuel Fitzherbert Henry Samuel Fitzherbert (11 September 1851 – 5 February 1912) was a 19th-century Member of Parliament in Wellington, New Zealand and a lawyer. He was educated at Christ's College, Christchurch and Melbourne University. He was a lawyer in ...

(MP). His only daughter Alice Jane married Sir Patrick Buckley in 1869.

Memorials

There are several streets in Wainuiomata bearing his name. The peak of the Eastern Hills dividing Naenae and Wainuiomata and its television relay mast is named Mount Fitzherbert.

References

External links

* , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Fitzherbert, William 1810 births 1891 deaths New Zealand Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George People educated at Sherborne School New Zealand finance ministers Speakers of the New Zealand House of Representatives Superintendents of New Zealand provincial councils Speakers of the New Zealand Legislative Council Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives Members of the New Zealand Legislative Council New Zealand MPs for Wellington electorates New Zealand MPs for Hutt Valley electorates People from Dorset Fellows of Queens' College, Cambridge English emigrants to New Zealand 19th-century New Zealand politicians New Zealand politicians awarded knighthoods