William Reeves (10 February 1825 – 4 April 1891) was a New Zealand 19th century journalist and politician. He was the father of the author and politician the Hon.

William Pember Reeves William Pember Reeves (10 February 1857 – 16 May 1932) was a New Zealand politician, cricketer, historian and poet who promoted social reform. Early life and career Reeves's parents were William Reeves, who was a journalist and politician ...

. Reeves was born in 1825 in

Clapham Clapham () is a suburb in south west London, England, lying mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, but with some areas (most notably Clapham Common) extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. History Early history ...

, Surrey, England. He represented the Avon electorate from an to 1868, when he resigned as the November 1867 death of his business partner,

Crosbie Ward Crosbie Ward (10 February 1832 – 10 November 1867) was a 19th-century member of parliament in New Zealand. Early life Ward was born in Killinchy in County Down, Ireland, in 1832. His father was Rev. Henry Ward. His paternal grandfather was ...

, prevented him from attending the upcoming parliamentary session 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 metr ...

. He contested the Selwyn electorate in 1871 against

Edward Cephas John Stevens Edward Cephas John Stevens (18 October 1837 – 6 June 1915) was a New Zealand politician in provincial government in Canterbury, and a member of both the lower and upper houses of parliament. A businessman, he controlled the Christchurch ...

and had a majority of one vote. He was Resident Minister for the Middle (South) Island in the 3rd Fox Ministry in 1871–1872. The dominant topic for the 1875 election was the abolition of the

Provinces A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

. Reeves favoured the retention of the provincial system of government, whilst

Cecil Fitzroy Cecil Augustus Fitzroy (10 January 1844 – 13 November 1917) was a 19th-century Member of Parliament from the Canterbury region of New Zealand, and later Mayor of Hastings. Early life Fitzroy was born in Norfolk, England, in 1844. His fathe ...

, 20 years his junior, was an abolitionist. Fitzroy narrowly won the election in the Selwyn electorate by 14 votes. On 21 October 1884, Reeves was appointed to 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 col ...

. He served until his death on 4 April 1891. He was a journalist and newspaper proprietor 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 ...

and Lyttelton, and was the principal proprietor of the ''

Lyttelton Times The ''Lyttelton Times'' was the first newspaper in Canterbury, New Zealand, publishing the first edition in January 1851. It was established by the Canterbury Association as part of its planned settlement of Canterbury and developed into a libera ...

'', though he died virtually bankrupt (he had failed on the Stock Exchange in England before migrating to New Zealand). Reeves underwent an operation at the end of March 1891. Later in the week, complications set in and he died the following day on 4 April 1891 at his homestead 'Risingholme'. He is buried at Barbadoes Street Cemetery and it was the largest Christchurch funeral since

William Sefton Moorhouse William Sefton Moorhouse ( 1825 – 15 September 1881) was a British-born New Zealand politician. He was the second Superintendent of Canterbury Province. Early life Moorhouse was born in Yorkshire, England, and baptised on 18 December 1825; th ...

had died 10 years earlier. Risingholme in the Christchurch suburb of

Opawa Opawa is an inner suburb of Christchurch, New Zealand, located 2.5 kilometres south-east of the city centre. The name is a contraction of "Ōpāwaho", which, in Māori, means a place of ('ō') an outer '' pā'' or outpost ('pāwaho'). "Ōpāw ...

was registered by the

New Zealand Historic Places Trust Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga (initially the National Historic Places Trust and then, from 1963 to 2014, the New Zealand Historic Places Trust) ( mi, Pouhere Taonga) is a Crown entity with a membership of around 20,000 people that advocate ...

(now Heritage New Zealand) as a Category II heritage building on 24 June 2005. Reeves was survived by his wife and their eight children. His son,

, who became a dominant politician in New Zealand, was married to

Maud Pember Reeves Maud Pember Reeves (24 December 1865 – 13 September 1953) (born Magdalene Stuart Robison) was a suffragist, socialist, feminist, writer and member of the Fabian Society. She spent most of her life in New Zealand and Britain. Early life Re ...

Amber Reeves Amber Blanco White (' Reeves; 1 July 1887 – 26 December 1981) was a New Zealand-born British feminist writer and scholar. Early life Reeves was born in Christchurch, New Zealand, the eldest of three children of Fabian feminist Maud Pember Re ...

was his granddaughter.

Notes

References

* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Reeves, William 1825 births 1891 deaths New Zealand journalists Members of the Cabinet of New Zealand Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives Members of the New Zealand Legislative Council People from Christchurch New Zealand MPs for Christchurch electorates Independent MPs of New Zealand English emigrants to New Zealand Burials at Barbadoes Street Cemetery Unsuccessful candidates in the 1875–1876 New Zealand general election 19th-century journalists Male journalists 19th-century male writers 19th-century New Zealand politicians Harper family

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 ...