William John Alexander Montgomery (1821 – 21 December 1914) was a New Zealand politician from

Little River Little River may refer to several places: Australia Streams New South Wales *Little River (Dubbo), source in the Dubbo region, a tributary of the Macquarie River * Little River (Oberon), source in the Oberon Shire, a tributary of Coxs River (Haw ...

on Banks Peninsula, and a merchant. Born in London, he lived in a number of places and pursued a number of occupations before settling 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.

Private life

Early life

Montgomery was from an old Scottish family that had settled in Ireland. He was born in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and baptised on 14 January 1821. His father was Josias Montgomery, a saddler, and his mother was Eleanor Martin. His father was killed in a hunting accident in 1825, and William was educated in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

at the

Royal Belfast Academical Institution The Royal Belfast Academical Institution is an independent grammar school in Belfast, Northern Ireland. With the support of Belfast's leading reformers and democrats, it opened its doors in 1814. Until 1849, when it was superseded by what today is ...

, where his uncle Henry Montgomery was head of English. Montgomery started going to sea when he was 13. At age 18, he was made a captain, having taken control of a ship with a drunken captain and a first mate who was unable to navigate. He later bought this ship.

Australia

Montgomery sailed to

Williamstown, Victoria Williamstown is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Hobsons Bay local government area. Williamstown recorded a population of 14,407 at the 2021 census. ...

, these days a suburb of

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, Australia, in 1850 or 1851, and joined the gold rush. After a short period of digging, he set himself up as a merchant and earned enough money to be able to buy a sheep station on the

Darling Downs The Darling Downs is a farming region on the western slopes of the Great Dividing Range in southern Queensland, Australia. The Downs are to the west of South East Queensland and are one of the major regions of Queensland. The name was general ...

. Several years of drought crippled him financially, though, and he decided to emigrate to New Zealand.

New Zealand

He came to New Zealand in 1860 and settled in

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 ...

. He bought the wharf in

Heathcote Heathcote may refer to: Places in Australia *Heathcote, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney **Electoral district of Heathcote, a seat in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly **Heathcote National Park ** Parish of Heathcote a parish of Cumberla ...

and imported timber from the bays on Banks Peninsula for the Christchurch market. This developed into a company as a timber merchant. On 29 August 1865, he married Jane Todhunter, born in

Shenley Shenley is a village and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England, between Barnet and St Albans. The village is located 14 miles from Central London. History The history of Shenley stretches back a thousand years or more – it is mentioned in ...

in Hertfordshire,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. She was a daughter of John Todhunter from London. Montgomery was one of the men from a Victorian era who did not marry until they were in their middle-age, and the eventual bride would be many years their junior. The Canterbury Club was founded in 1872 to provide an alternative to those businessmen who had less of a rural background, as was common with Christchurch Club members. Montgomery chaired the initial meeting. Both the Canterbury and Christchurch clubs still exist.

Political career

Local politics

Montgomery was elected onto the first

Road Board in 1864. In 1865, he was elected onto the

Canterbury Provincial Council The Canterbury Province was a province of New Zealand from 1853 until the abolition of provincial government in 1876. Its capital was Christchurch. History Canterbury was founded in December 1850 by the Canterbury Association of influential Eng ...

for the Heathcote constituency. He held this seat until 1870. In 1873, he again contested the Heathcote seat on the Provincial Council, to fill the vacancy left by Andrew Duncan. He was elected without opposition. During his time on the Provincial Council, he was on the executive in 1866, was provincial treasurer in 1868, deputy superintendent for a brief period in 1868 and leader of the Executive Council in 1874–75.

Member of Parliament

Following the resignation of

Robert Heaton Rhodes Robert Heaton Rhodes (1815 – 1 June 1884) was a New Zealand politician, who represented the Akaroa electorate from 1871 to 1874, when he resigned. He was elected unopposed in 1871. Born in 1815 in Rotherham, in the English county of York ...

from his Akaroa seat in the New Zealand parliament, Montgomery contested the 20 April 1874 by-election against

Walter Pilliet Walter Hippolyte Pilliet JP (8 February 1840 – 7 November 1885) was a 19th-century Member of Parliament in Christchurch, New Zealand. He worked initially as a surveyor and was then resident magistrate in several places. He was a newspaper edi ...

. The results were 168 and 76 votes, respectively, ''i.e.'', a margin of 92 for Montgomery. He thus entered parliament during the

5th Fifth is the ordinal form of the number five. Fifth or The Fifth may refer to: * Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as in the expression "pleading the Fifth" * Fifth column, a political term * Fifth disease, a contagious rash tha ...

term. In July 1874, a select committee declared Montgomery's election to be "null and void", as he had a contract for the supply of railway

sleepers ''Sleepers'' is a 1996 American legal crime drama film written, produced, and directed by Barry Levinson, and based on Lorenzo Carcaterra's 1995 book of the same name. The film stars Kevin Bacon, Jason Patric, Brad Pitt, Robert De Niro, Dustin H ...

with the general government in breach of election rules. The select committee accepted that the breach was inadvertent. Montgomery stood for re-election in the 10 August 1874 by-election and was returned unopposed. Montgomery opened the Little River railway in 1884 and worked on the extension to Akaroa, which did not proceed. He represented Akaroa until the end of the 9th parliament. He announced on 1 July 1887 that he would not stand for re-election because of ill health. Six candidates stood for the 1887 general election in Akaroa; former Akaroa mayor Alexander McGregor won by a large margin. ;Ministerial appointments During the first Stout- Vogel ministry, in August 1884, he was colonial secretary and the 4th Minister of Education. The Stout-Vogel ministry lasted for two weeks from 16 to 28 August 1884. He unselfishly stood aside when Stout needed to give ministries to Auckland members to continue in power. ;Young New Zealand Party Montgomery was recognised as the leader of the Young New Zealand Party, a reformist and left-leaning faction in Parliament which was supported by small businessmen, small farmers, and the Labour movement (particularly miners), and which grew into the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

Member of the Legislative Council

On 15 October 1892, he was appointed to the Legislative Council, the upper house of New Zealand. At the time, appointments were for a seven-year period. He was reappointed on 16 October 1899. Upon the expiry of his second term on 15 October 1906, the cabinet decided to recommend to the Governor that Montgomery be appointed for another term. But Montgomery decided to retire, and was granted permission to retain his title 'the Honourable'. 'The Honourable' became his nickname among his friends.

Death and commemoration

Montgomery's wife Jane died young aged 43, several decades before him on 27 July 1879. Montgomery died at his residence in Little River on 21 December 1914. He was survived by two sons, William Hugh (1866–1958) and John (1874–1946). His son William Montgomery Jr. represented Ellesmere in 1893–99. The couple are buried at the Barbadoes Street Cemetery in the central city of Christchurch, together with those of their children who died young. Montgomery Street in Cheviot is named for William Montgomery. Montgomery Park Scenic Reserve above the Summit Road near Hilltop is a native bush reserve that William Hugh Montgomery donated to the Wairewa County Council in 1941. The gift was to commemorate both William Hugh and his father. It contains a

tōtara ''Podocarpus totara'' (; from the Maori-language ; the spelling "totara" is also common in English) is a species of podocarp tree endemic to New Zealand. It grows throughout the North Island and northeastern South Island in lowland, montane a ...

estimated to be 2000 years old, with a girth of 8.5 m. Montgomery Spur is located in the

Port Hills The Port Hills are a range of hills in Canterbury Region, so named because they lie between the city of Christchurch and its port at Lyttelton. They are an eroded remnant of the Lyttelton volcano, which erupted millions of years ago. The hi ...

between Rapaki Track and the Avoca Valley. It was named after John Montgomery. Part of the spur is Montgomery Spur Reserve, held by

Christchurch City Council The Christchurch City Council is the local government authority for Christchurch in New Zealand. It is a territorial authority elected to represent the people of Christchurch. Since October 2022, the Mayor of Christchurch is Phil Mauger, wh ...

as a Scenic Reserve under the Reserves Act 1977.

References

, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Montgomery, William 1821 births 1914 deaths Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives Members of the Cabinet of New Zealand New Zealand education ministers Members of the New Zealand Legislative Council Members of the Canterbury Provincial Council Burials at Barbadoes Street Cemetery Independent MPs of New Zealand English emigrants to New Zealand New Zealand MPs for South Island electorates Chancellors of the University of Canterbury Members of Canterbury provincial executive councils Colonial Secretaries of New Zealand 19th-century New Zealand politicians