Sir Edward Denis Blundell, (29 May 1907 – 24 September 1984) was a New Zealand lawyer, cricketer and diplomat who served as the 12th Governor-General of New Zealand from 1972 to 1977.

Early life and family

Denis Blundell was born 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 ...

to Henry Percy Fabian Blundell, grandson of Henry Blundell, founder of '' The Evening Post'' and

scion Scion may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities *Scion, a playable class in the game '' Path of Exile'' (2013) *Atlantean Scion, a device in the ''Tomb Raider'' video game series *Scions, an alien race in the video game ''B ...

of the ancient

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

family. Blundell attended

Waitaki Boys' High School Waitaki Boys' High School is a secondary school for boys located in the northern part of the town of Oamaru, Otago, New Zealand, with day and boarding facilities, and was founded in 1883. , it has a school roll of approximately 400 students. The ...

and

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

. There he read Law and was called to the Bar of England and Wales in 1929. He never practised in the United Kingdom, however, and returned to New Zealand in 1930, practising as barrister and solicitor in Wellington. He was a partner in the Wellington law firm of

Bell Gully Bell Gully is a major New Zealand law firm. Founded in 1840 it is one of New Zealand's largest law firms, and along with Chapman Tripp and Russell McVeagh it is considered to be one of the "big three". Bell Gully is a full-service law firm. ...

from 1936 to 1968. During the Second World War, Blundell served in the

2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force The New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF) was the title of the military forces sent from New Zealand to fight alongside other British Empire and Dominion troops during World War I (1914–1918) and World War II (1939–1945). Ultimately, the NZE ...

from 1939 to 1944. He fought in

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, was

brigade major A brigade major was the chief of staff of a brigade in the British Army. They most commonly held the rank of major, although the appointment was also held by captains, and was head of the brigade's "G - Operations and Intelligence" section dire ...

of the 5th Infantry Brigade from 1943 to 1944, briefly commanded the 23rd Battalion with the rank of lieutenant colonel in 1944, and was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire. Blundell was President of the Wellington District Law Society in 1951, President of the

New Zealand Law Society The New Zealand Law Society ( mi, Te Kāhui Ture o Aotearoa) is the parent body for barristers and solicitors in New Zealand. It was established in 1869, and regulates all lawyers practising in New Zealand. Membership of the society is voluntary, ...

for six years (1962–1968) and Vice-President of the Law Society of Asia and the Pacific in 1966. He was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal in 1953, and knighted as a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1967 Queen's Birthday Honours, for services to the legal profession. He married June Halligan in 1945. They had a son and a daughter.

Cricket career

Blundell was a talented cricketer, and opened the bowling in

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officia ...

for

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...

, MCC and

. In 1928, in his first first-class match for Cambridge, he took 6 for 25 and 3 for 103 against Leicestershire. He captained Wellington in the 1934–35

Plunket Shield New Zealand has had a domestic first-class cricket championship since the 1906–07 season. Since the 2009–10 season it has been known by its original name of the Plunket Shield. History The Plunket Shield competition was instigated in Octob ...

season, taking 6 for 82 and 5 for 48 in the match against Otago. When the MCC toured New Zealand in 1935–36 he was selected in two of the four matches

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

played against the tourists, taking six wickets, all of top-order batsmen, at an average of 19.50. Blundell was President of the New Zealand Cricket Board from 1959 to 1962.

High Commissioner

Blundell was appointed by

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

Keith Holyoake Sir Keith Jacka Holyoake, (; 11 February 1904 – 8 December 1983) was the 26th prime minister of New Zealand, serving for a brief period in 1957 and then from 1960 to 1972, and also the 13th governor-general of New Zealand, serving from 1977 ...

as High Commissioner for New Zealand in Britain and Ambassador to Ireland in 1968. In 1972 he returned to New Zealand.

Governor-General

Blundell was appointed in 1972 by Queen Elizabeth II on the advice of her Prime Minister

Jack Marshall Sir John Ross Marshall New Zealand Army Orders 1952/405 (5 March 1912 – 30 August 1988) was a New Zealand politician of the National Party. He entered Parliament in 1946 and was first promoted to Cabinet in 1951. After spending twelve years ...

to the office of Governor-General of New Zealand. The Leader of the Opposition,

Norman Kirk Norman Eric Kirk (6 January 1923 – 31 August 1974) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 29th prime minister of New Zealand from 1972 until his sudden death in 1974. Born into poverty in Southern Canterbury, Kirk left school at a ...

, did not support the appointment, because of Blundell's friendship with the Prime Minister. At his swearing-in ceremony, the Prime Minister referred to Blundell as "a close personal friend over many years in the law, in the battle of the EEC and in many a battle on the golf-course". Blundell was the first New Zealand-born and resident Governor-General, and his appointment prompted

David Lange David Russell Lange ( ; 4 August 1942 – 13 August 2005) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 32nd prime minister of New Zealand from 1984 to 1989. Lange was born and brought up in Otahuhu, the son of a medical doctor. He became ...

to say "it sort of made us somehow mortal. A man who was a lawyer and the son of a newspaper publisher could become The Queen in drag." Blundell was the first Governor-General to appear on the electoral roll, for the 1972 general election, although it is unknown whether he voted (under New Zealand electoral law a citizen is only required to register to vote). In office Blundell dispensed with the traditional plumed

helmet A helmet is a form of protective gear worn to protect the head. More specifically, a helmet complements the skull in protecting the human brain. Ceremonial or symbolic helmets (e.g., a policeman's helmet in the United Kingdom) without protect ...

, stating "I'd feel an awful Joe underneath one of those hats." Instead, he wore a plain uniform, and usually only for visits to military bases. His term ended in 1977. As Governor-General, Blundell was appointed a

Knight Grand Cross 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, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III. It is named in honour ...

and

Knight of the Order of St John The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headq ...

in 1972,

Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order (french: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the British monarch, Canadian monarch, Australian monarch, or ...

in 1974, and

Companion of the Queen's Service Order The Queen's Service Order, established by royal warrant of Queen Elizabeth II on 13 March 1975, is used to recognise "valuable voluntary service to the community or meritorious and faithful services to the Crown or similar services within the pu ...

for public service in 1977.

Later life

Blundell died while on holiday at

Townsville Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 3 ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

, Australia, in 1984. He was buried at Purewa Cemetery in the Auckland suburb of Meadowbank. He was survived by his wife and children.

Arms

References

Bibliography

* ''The Story of Bell Gully Buddle Weir'' by Julia Millen (1990, Bell Gully) *

External links

Official brief biography of Sir Denis Blundell

at CricInfo
Denis Blundell
at CricketArchive {{DEFAULTSORT:Blundell, Denis 1907 births 1984 deaths Governors-General of New Zealand Companions of the Queen's Service Order New Zealand Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George New Zealand Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order New Zealand Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire New Zealand cricketers Pre-1930 New Zealand representative cricketers Cambridge University cricketers Wellington cricketers New Zealand military personnel of World War II Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge People educated at Waitaki Boys' High School High Commissioners of New Zealand to the United Kingdom Ambassadors of New Zealand to Ireland Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers People from Wellington City 20th-century New Zealand lawyers Burials at Purewa Cemetery North Island cricketers