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, and Ellen Reeves, ''née'' Pember. They had migrated from Britain to Canterbury Province in 1857, arriving three weeks before he was born. He was educated at a private prep school 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 ...

, the local high school and, from 1867 to 1874, Christ's College Grammar School. Before entering politics, Reeves was a lawyer and journalist. He was editor of the ''Canterbury Times'' in 1885 and the ''Lyttelton Times'' (1889–1891).

Cricket

Reeves played in five

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 officiall ...

matches for

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of t ...

from 1879 to 1888. A batsman, his highest score was 54, Canterbury's top score in the match, when Canterbury beat

Otago Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

by four runs in February 1883.

Political career

Reeves represented the Christchurch electorate of

St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major town on the old Roman ...

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

from 1887 to 1890, and then

from

1890 Events January–March * January 1 ** The Kingdom of Italy establishes Eritrea as its colony, in the Horn of Africa. ** In Michigan, the wooden steamer ''Mackinaw'' burns in a fire on the Black River. * January 2 ** The steamship '' ...

to 1896, when he resigned to take up the post of Agent General. During the premierships of

John Ballance John Ballance (27 March 1839 – 27 April 1893) was an Irish-born New Zealand politician who was the 14th premier of New Zealand, from January 1891 to April 1893, the founder of the Liberal Party (the country's first organised political part ...

(1891–93) and

Richard Seddon Richard John Seddon (22 June 1845 – 10 June 1906) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 15th premier (prime minister) of New Zealand from 1893 until his death. In office for thirteen years, he is to date New Zealand's longest-se ...

(1893–1906) he served as Minister of Labour (1892–96), Minister of Education (1891–96),

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 ...

(1891–92, 1893, 1895–96) and Commissioner of Stamp Duties (1892–96). As Minister of Labour he introduced the

Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act 1894 The Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act 1894 was a piece of industrial relations legislation passed by the Parliament of New Zealand in 1894. Enacted by the Liberal Government of New Zealand, it was the world's first compulsory system of ...

and the Undesirable Immigrants Exclusion Bill, which, if it had been passed, would have barred poor and Asian immigrants from the country. His opposition to the entry of those he considered "undesirable" immigrants earned him the nickname "Undesirable Bill" Reeves.

In London

In January 1896 Reeves left New Zealand for London, where he was Agent General (1896–1905) and High Commissioner (1905–08). While he was in Britain Reeves became a friend of a number of left-wing intellectuals, such as

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...

, H. G. Wells, and Sidney and

Beatrice Webb Martha Beatrice Webb, Baroness Passfield, (née Potter; 22 January 1858 – 30 April 1943) was an English sociologist, economist, socialist, labour historian and social reformer. It was Webb who coined the term ''collective bargaining''. She ...

, all leading members of the

Fabian Society The Fabian Society is a British socialist organisation whose purpose is to advance the principles of social democracy and democratic socialism via gradualist and reformist effort in democracies, rather than by revolutionary overthrow. T ...

. He was also a member of the Coefficients dining club of social reformers. William Pember Reeves, 1925

Reeves became Director of the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 milli ...

(1908–19) and President of the Anglo-Hellenic League (1913–25). He also headed the committee organising the

First Universal Races Congress The First Universal Races Congress met in 1911 for four days at the University of London as an early effort at anti-racism. Speakers from a number of countries discussed race relations and how to improve them. The congress, with 2,100 attendees, ...

in London in 1911. Finally, he was chairman of the board of the

National Bank of New Zealand The National Bank of New Zealand Limited (NBNZ), often referred to as The National Bank, was one of New Zealand's largest banks. Throughout much of its history, the National Bank provided commercial banking services to mainly major industrial and ...

from 1917 to 1931. Reeves's more influential writings include his history of New Zealand, ''The Long White Cloud'' (1898) and ''State Experiments in Australia and New Zealand'' (1902). He also published a number of poems, such as "The Passing of the Forest" and "A Colonist in his Garden". Reeves married Magdalen Stuart Robison in 1885. She was a

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

who later joined the Fabian Society. They had two daughters, the feminist writer Amber Reeves (born 1887) and Beryl (born 1889), and one son, Fabian Pember Reeves (1895–1917), who was killed in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, aged 21, as a Flight Lieutenant in the RNAS. Reeves three times declined offers of a

knighthood A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the ...

Works

* * * * State Experiments in Australia & New Zealand. London: Grant Richards. 1902. *

Notes

References

* * *

External links

*
Biography in the 1966 ''Encyclopaedia of New Zealand''
* * * , or at th

at the New Zealand Electronic Text Centre , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Reeves, William Pember 1857 births 1932 deaths New Zealand Liberal Party MPs 20th-century New Zealand historians 19th-century New Zealand lawyers People from Lyttelton, New Zealand Members of the Cabinet of New Zealand New Zealand education ministers Labour ministers of New Zealand Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives People associated with the London School of Economics People educated at Christ's College, Christchurch New Zealand MPs for Christchurch electorates High Commissioners of New Zealand to the United Kingdom Members of the Fabian Society 19th-century New Zealand politicians Canterbury cricketers Cricketers from Christchurch 19th-century New Zealand historians Justice ministers of New Zealand William Pember