Thomas Charles Atkinson Hislop (29 November 1888 – 21 June 1965) was a New Zealand politician, lawyer, and diplomat. He served as the

mayor of Wellington The Mayor of Wellington is the head of the municipal government of the City of Wellington. The mayor presides over the Wellington City Council. The mayor is directly elected using the Single Transferable Vote method of proportional representati ...

from 1931 to 1944.

Early life and family

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 me ...

on 29 November 1888, Hislop was the son of

Thomas William Hislop Thomas William Hislop (8 April 1850 – 2 October 1925) was the Mayor of Wellington from 1905 to 1908, and had represented two South Island electorates in the New Zealand Parliament. Early life He was born in Kirknewton, West Lothian in 1850. ...

, who was mayor of Wellington from 1905 to 1908, and Annie Hislop (née Simpson). His grandfather was

John Hislop James John Henry Hislop (1825 – 23 October 1909) was a convict transported to Western Australia. After the expiry of his sentence, he became the first ex-convict in Western Australia to be appointed a teacher. Life John Hislop was a clerk i ...

. He attended

Wellington College Wellington College may refer to: *Wellington College, Berkshire, an independent school in Crowthorne, Berkshire, England ** Wellington College International Shanghai ** Wellington College International Tianjin * Wellington College, Wellington, Ne ...

, and then the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

where he graduated in law. In 1911, he was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

as a barrister-at-law of

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wal ...

, London. In 1921, Hislop married Ailsa Craig Dalhousie Ramsay at

St John's Church, Wellington St John's Church in Willis Street, Wellington, New Zealand, is registered by Heritage New Zealand as a Category I heritage building. Designed by Thomas Turnbull, it opened on 11 December 1885 to replace an earlier church destroyed by fire in 1884. ...

Legal and military career

Hislop joined the Wellington legal firm of Brandon, Ward and Hislop in 1912. He enlisted in the Wellington Regiment in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

in 1915, and saw active service at Gallipoli and in France. He was twice wounded, and returned to New Zealand in 1919 with the rank of captain, resuming legal practice.

Political career

Hislop was a Wellington city councillor from 1913 to 1915, when he resigned to serve in World War I. He became a councillor again from 1927 to 1931, and then mayor from 1931 to 1945. He was the political leader of the Democrat Party organised by

Albert Davy Albert Ernest Davy (17 August 1886 – 13 June 1959) was a New Zealand political organiser and campaign manager; and at the height of his career, was regarded as one of the best in the country. He was a strong opponent of socialism, and spent m ...

in 1934–35. The party was anti-socialist, but in the 1935 general election its main effect was to split the anti-Labour vote, and it disappeared soon afterwards. Hislop himself contested the electorate and came last out of three candidates. He later became a member of the new National Party which the Democrat Party had merged into. At the standing for the National Party in the electorate, he came second but was beaten by Labour's Charles Chapman. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Hislop was seen as a "remote, even erratic figure, and his right-wing views regularly brought him into conflict with the wartime Labour government", but the attack by some trade unionists on Hubert Nathan, a Jew and Citizens candidate for the Harbour Board, resulted in the defeat of all the Labour candidates to the Council in 1941. In 1940

Noël Coward Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time'' magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and ...

was on a world entertainment and propaganda tour, and at a mayoral reception in Wellington had a ''set-to with the Mayoress'' who ''seemed to me to suffer from delusions of grandeur .... She said to me in ringing tones that I was never to dare to sing "The Stately Homes of England" again as it was an insult to the homeland and that neither she or anybody else liked it. I replied coldly that for many years it had been one of my greatest successes, whereupon she announced triumphantly to everyone within earshot: 'You see – he can’t take criticism!' Irritated beyond endurance I replied that I was perfectly prepared to take intelligent criticism at any time, but I was not prepared to tolerate bad manners. With this I bowed austerely and left the party.'' Hislop was chairman of the Wellington Provincial Centennial Council and the New Zealand Centennial Exhibition Company from 1937; the Centennial was in 1940.

Honours and awards

In 1935, both Hislop and his wife were awarded the

King George V Silver Jubilee Medal The King George V Silver Jubilee Medal is a commemorative medal, instituted to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the accession of King George V. Issue This medal was awarded as a personal souvenir by King George V to commemorate his Silver J ...

. In the 1935 King's Birthday Honours, Hislop was appointed a

Companion 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. ...

Later life and death

Hislop was High Commissioner to Canada from 1950 to 1957. He died on 21 June 1965 in Montreal, Canada; where his daughter Mrs A. Gordon was living.Obituary in ''Evening Post'', Wellington; 23 June 1965

Notes

References

*''No Mean City'' by Stuart Perry (1969, Wellington City Council) includes a paragraph and a portrait or photo for each mayor. , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Hislop, Thomas Charles Atkinson 1888 births 1965 deaths Mayors of Wellington New Zealand military personnel of World War I New Zealand Democrat Party (1934) politicians High Commissioners of New Zealand to Canada Unsuccessful candidates in the 1943 New Zealand general election New Zealand National Party politicians Unsuccessful candidates in the 1935 New Zealand general election Wellington City Councillors People educated at Wellington College (New Zealand) Candidates in the 1941 New Zealand general election Alumni of the University of Cambridge 20th-century New Zealand lawyers New Zealand Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George