Berkeley "Bert" Lionel Scudamore Dallard (27 August 1889 – 5 September 1983) was a New Zealand accountant, senior public servant and prison administrator.

Biography

Early life

He was born 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 ...

, New Zealand on 27 August 1889, and attended

Rangiora High School , motto_translation = Enlightenment with Friendship , location = , coordinates = , type = State , religious_affiliation = , religion = , denomination = , patron ...

. He completed a junior civil service examination and in 1907 became a cadet in the Stamp Department 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 would later attend Victoria University and qualified as an accountant. By 1924 he had progressed to the position of inspector in the Office of the Public Service Commissioner. In 1926 Dallard became New Zealand's controller-general of prisons, retaining this title until 1933, when he was appointed as an under-secretary to the Department of Justice. On 7 April 1915 he married Agnes Rowand Inglis at

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

and had three daughters together.

Penal reform

He was active in the

Howard League for Penal Reform The Howard League for Penal Reform is a registered charity in the United Kingdom. It is the oldest penal reform organisation in the world, named after John Howard. It was founded as the Howard Association in 1866 and changed its name in 1921, ...

advocating for criminal reform. Since 1912 prisons in New Zealand had been undergoing considerable reform. However by the early 1920s there was growing concern that liberalization of the penal system had gone too far. Dallard, a deeply conservative man, was appointed to run the prison systems in New Zealand and was made a member of the Law Revision Committee. He was particularly opposed to homosexuals, Communists and pacifists and allowed them ill-treatment. Also throughout his administration of the prison system he was a staunch supporter of sterilizing mentally ill patients, flogging sex offenders and the use of the death penalty for those guilty of murderer. In 1935, he was awarded the King George V Silver Jubilee Medal. In the 1948 King's Birthday Honours, Dallard was appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George, in recognition of his service as under-secretary of Justice.

Political career

He was a member of and office holder within the National Party. Active in the branch, he was the branch's finance convener. Dallard was a member of the

Wellington City Council Wellington City Council is a territorial authority in New Zealand, governing the country's capital city Wellington, and ''de facto'' second-largest city (if the commonly considered parts of Wellington, the Upper Hutt, Porirua, Lower Hutt and ...

. He was elected in a by-election in 1949 as the Citizens' candidate to replace the deceased

Frederick Furkert Frederick William Furkert (14 October 1876 – 26 September 1949) was a New Zealand engineer. He joined the Public Works Department (PWD) in 1894, and was engineer-in-chief of the PWD for twelve years from 1920 until he retired in 1933. Furker ...

and held his seat until

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wor ...

when he was defeated standing as an

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

. He was also a member of the Wellington Hospital Board, and the Metropolitan Licensing Authority. In June 1950 he became a member of the

Wellington Hospital Board 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 ...

and remained a member until 1971 when he retired. For the 1962 to 1965 triennium he was chairman of the hospital board. The Berkeley Dallard apartments (owned by the city council) in Nairn Street, Wellington, are named after him. In April 2019 the naming of the apartments was brought into question. Councillors Nicola Young and Fleur Fitzsimons suggested that they be renamed as Dallard's homophobic tendencies were no longer in line with popular opinion.

Later life and death

Dallard died in Wellington on 5 September 1983, aged 94 years old.

Notes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dallard, Berkeley Lionel Scudamore 1889 births 1983 deaths New Zealand public servants New Zealand accountants People educated at Rangiora High School People from Rangiora New Zealand National Party politicians Wellington City Councillors New Zealand Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Victoria University of Wellington alumni Prison reformers Wellington Hospital Board members