Colonial Secretary of New Zealand

The Colonial Secretary of New Zealand was an office established in 1840 and abolished in 1907.[1] The office was similar to Colonial Secretaries found elsewhere in the British Empire.

Along with the Chief Justice, the office was one of the first four created by Governor William Hobson when he arrived in New Zealand in January 1840. The Colonial Secretary's Office handled the creation of New Zealand's public service, and became the modern Department of Internal Affairs in 1907.[1] The Colonial Secretary became known as the Minister of Internal Affairs from then on.

The Colonial Secretary was considered the deputy of the Governor, until the granting of responsible government. For example, Willoughby Shortland acted as administrator of government following the death of William Hobson in 1841. Henry Sewell, who is considered by some as the first Premier of New Zealand, held the position for his short tenure as head of the government in 1856.[2]

List of Colonial Secretaries

	Name	Governor served	Premier or Prime Minister served	Took Office	Left Office	Party
1	Willoughby Shortland[3]	William Hobson		3 May 1841	31 December 1843	none
2	Andrew Sinclair[4]	Robert FitzRoy George Grey Thomas Gore Browne		6 January 1844	7 May 1856	none
3	Henry Sewell[4]	Thomas Gore Browne	(himself)	7 May 1856	20 May 1856	none
4	John Hall[5]		William Fox	20 May 1856	2 June 1856	none
5	William Richmond[6]		Edward Stafford	2 June 1856	4 November 1856	none
6	Edward Stafford[6]		(himself)	4 November 1856	12 July 1861	none
7	Isaac Featherston[6]		William Fox	12 July 1861	2 August 1861	none
8	William Fox[6]		(himself)	2 August 1861	6 August 1862	none
9	Alfred Domett[6]		(himself)	6 August 1862	30 October 1863	none
	William Fox (2nd time)[7]		Frederick Whitaker	30 October 1863	24 November 1864	none
10	Frederick Weld[7]		(himself)	24 November 1864	26 June 1865	none
11	James Richmond[7][8]		Frederick Weld	26 June 1865	16 October 1865	none
	Edward Stafford (2nd time)[7][9]		(himself)	31 October 1865	28 June 1869	none
12	William Gisborne[10][11]		William Fox	28 June 1869	10 September 1872	none
	Henry Sewell (2nd time)[10]		Edward Stafford	10 September 1872	11 October 1872	none
	John Hall (2nd time)[10]		George Waterhouse	11 October 1872	3 March 1873	none
	William Fox (3rd time)[7]		(himself)	3 March 1873	8 April 1873	none
13	William Reynolds[12][13]		William Fox	14 April 1873	4 July 1873	none
14	Daniel Pollen[14][15]		William Fox, (himself), Julius Vogel, Harry Atkinson	4 July 1873	13 October 1877	none
15	George Grey[16]		(himself)	15 October 1877	18 October 1877	none
16	George Whitmore[16][17]		George Grey	18 October 1877	8 October 1879	none
	John Hall (3rd time)[16]		(himself)	8 October 1879	5 March 1880	none
17	Thomas Dick[18]		John Hall, Whitaker Atkinson	5 March 1880	16 August 1884	none
18	William Montgomery[19]		Robert Stout	16 August 1884	28 August 1884	none
19	Edward Wakefield[20]		Atkinson	28 August 1884	3 September 1884	none
20	Patrick Buckley[20]		Robert Stout	4 September 1884	8 October 1887	none
21	Thomas Hislop[20]		Atkinson	8 October 1887	10 September 1889	none
22	William Russell[21]		Atkinson	17 October 1889	24 January 1891	none
-	Patrick Buckley (2nd time)[22][23][24]		John Ballance Richard Seddon	24 January 1891	20 December 1895	Liberal
			Richard Seddon	1895	1897	Liberal
	James Carroll (acting) [25][23]		Richard Seddon	1897	1899	Liberal
23	Joseph Ward [26]		Richard Seddon, William Hall-Jones	20 December 1899	6 August 1906	Liberal
24	Albert Pitt (MLC) [27]		Joseph Ward	6 August 1906	18 November 1906	Liberal
25	John Findlay [27]		Joseph Ward	23 November 1906	19 November 1907	Liberal

Notes

1. "History of the Department". The Department of Internal Affairs. Retrieved 3 July 2010.
2. Former PM's – Official website of the Prime Minister of New Zealand Archived 22 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine
3. McLintock, A. H., ed. (22 April 2009) [1966]. "SHORTLAND, Commander Willoughby, RN". An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand. Ministry for Culture and Heritage / Te Manatū Taonga. Retrieved 28 November 2010.
4. SINCLAIR, Andrew – 1966 Encyclopaedia of New Zealand
5. Scholefield 1950, p. 31.
6. Scholefield 1950, p. 32.
7. Scholefield 1950, p. 33.
8. Cyclopedia of New Zealand – The Hon. James Crowe Richmond, NZETC
9. History of the Department, Ministry of Internal Affairs
10. Scholefield 1950, p. 34.
11. GISBORNE, William – 1966 Encyclopaedia of New Zealand
12. Scholefield 1950, p. 35.
13. Wilson 1985, p. 65.
14. Scholefield 1950, p. 35–36.
15. Wilson 1985, pp. 65,66,67.
16. Scholefield 1950, p. 37.
17. Belich, James (1 September 2010). "Whitmore, George Stoddart – Biography". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Retrieved 7 December 2010.
18. Scholefield 1950, pp. 37–38.
19. Scholefield 1950, p. 38.
20. Scholefield 1950, p. 39.
21. Scholefield 1950, p. 40.
22. Scholefield 1950, pp. 40–41.
23. "Cyclopedia of New Zealand – Colonial Secretary's department". NZETC.
24. Wilson1985, pp. 71,72.
25. Bassett 2013, p. 48. sfn error: no target: CITEREFBassett2013 (help)
26. Wilson1985, pp. 72,73.
27. Wilson1985, p. 74.

References

• Bassett, Michael (1997). The Mother of All Departments. Auckland: Auckland University Press. ISBN 1-86940-175-1.
• Scholefield, Guy (1950) [First published in 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1949 (3rd ed.). Wellington: Govt. Printer.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V R Ward, Government Printer. OCLC 154283103.