31-518: Sir Harry Albert Atkinson KCMG (1 November 1831 – 28 June 1892) served as the tenth premier of New Zealand on four separate occasions in the late 19th century, and was Colonial Treasurer for a total of ten years. He was responsible for guiding the country during a time of economic depression , and was known as a cautious and prudent manager of government finances, though distrusted for some policies such as his 1882 National Insurance (welfare) scheme and leasehold land schemes. He also participated in
62-576: A by-election in the Grey and Bell electorate. Atkinson was elected to Parliament unopposed. In 1864, he was made Defence Minister in the government of Frederick Weld . He was highly active in this portfolio, advocating a policy of self-reliance in the conduct of the war. In 1866, however, he retired due to the death of his wife Amelia (whom he had married in 1856). The following year, he married his cousin Annie. He returned to parliament from 1867 to 1869 for
93-684: A female Prime Minister, while for a short period (2005–2006) women simultaneously held all five highest government positions ( Monarch , Governor-General , Prime Minister, Speaker of the House and Chief Justice ). In honour of this book, the Sir Julius Vogel Awards for New Zealand speculative fiction take their name from him. He died in London, having retired there in 1887 after electoral defeat. He had been an invalid for several years. On his death at East Molesey in 1899, Vogel
124-450: A government. John Bryce , Robert Stout and William Rolleston had all lost their seats. Sir John Hall said he was too old. Sir Julius Vogel 's policies had been rejected by the voters. So there was no alternative to Harry Atkinson, and after two weeks of negotiations he announced a ministry on 11 October. Only two ministers had served with him before. The Scarecrow Ministry was not expected to last, but did. The years 1887 and 1888 were
155-683: A journalist for the Otago Witness . In November 1861, he founded the Otago Daily Times and became its first editor. In 1863 James Grant was charged with criminal libel against Vogel in an election pamphlet but was found not guilty by a jury. On 19 March 1867, Vogel got married in Dunedin to his neighbour Mary "Polly" Clayton, the daughter of architect William Henry Clayton . They had three sons and one daughter. Vogel first became involved in politics in 1862, winning election to
186-590: A protracted struggle for the leadership. A strong counter-offensive by Atkinson enabled him to unseat Stout again after only twelve days. Stout, however, was not so easily defeated, and took the Premiership again after seven days. This time, Stout held his position for three years, defeating Atkinson's attempts to oust him. There was confusion in Wellington in September 1887 when the members gathered to form
217-794: A village in England where he had lived as a boy, although—as his father worked as an itinerant builder and architect—the family did not settle anywhere. Atkinson was made a sergeant of the Taranaki Volunteer Rifle Company in February 1859 and then commissioned as a captain in March. He led No. 2 Company throughout the First Taranaki War and saw action at the Battles of Waireka , Mahoetahi and Kaitake. He
248-548: Is also noteworthy as one of the few practising Jewish prime ministers outside Israel. Since Vogel, two other New Zealanders of Jewish descent have held the premiership: Francis Bell , an Anglican who briefly became prime minister in May 1925; and John Key , New Zealand's prime minister between 2008 and 2016 who was not religious despite attending synagogue as a child on occasion. Benjamin Disraeli , of Jewish descent but Anglican,
279-713: The 1884 election in Christchurch North against John Crewes . Vogel was the first Member of Parliament to be named in New Zealand. He was named on 15 November 1887 by the Speaker of the House Maurice O'Rorke for saying that his fellow Member Robert Thompson was 'want of manners' in a debate about Vogel's use of constabulary for household purposes – a charge he denied. Vogel was premier from 1873 to 1875 and again in 1876. From 1876 to 1881, he
310-969: The Royal School of Mines (later part of Imperial College London ). He emigrated to Victoria, Australia in 1852, being editor of several newspapers on the goldfields, including the Inglewood Advertiser and the Maryborough and Dunolly Advertiser . After an unsuccessful attempt to enter the Victorian Parliament in the Avoca district in August 1861 (he lost to James Macpherson Grant and Benjamin George Davies ), he moved to Otago in October 1861, where he became
341-623: The Town of New Plymouth electorate, but in April 1869 he resigned to concentrate on maintaining his farm. In 1872, Atkinson returned to politics for the Egmont electorate; to defeat William Sefton Moorhouse , who was allied with William Fox , a prominent supporter of Māori land rights. Atkinson declared that he would "not see a Foxite get in", and narrowly defeated Moorhouse. Once in parliament, Atkinson soon became involved in economic matters, opposing
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#1732782800060372-808: The Waikouaiti electorate on Wednesday, 28 February. It is unclear why Vogel stood in Waikouaiti as two days earlier, he had been returned unopposed at the nomination for the Goldfields electorate . On retiring from the provincial government in 1869, he joined the William Fox ministry as colonial treasurer, afterward holding the posts of postmaster-general, commissioner of customs, and telegraph commissioner at various times. In 1870, as Colonial Treasurer he introduced his "grand go-ahead policy" or great Public Works policy to revitalise and develop
403-557: The provincial council of Otago . Four years later became the head of the provincial government, a post which he held until 1869. In 1863 he was unsuccessful in the 1863 by-election for Dunedin and Suburbs South . Later in an 1863 by-election he was elected a member of the New Zealand House of Representatives for the Dunedin and Suburbs North electorate. In the 1866 election , he was defeated by William Murison in
434-465: The Premiership. One of his first acts was to abolish the provinces . He also took over direct responsibility for financial policy, and implemented a less aggressive strategy for borrowing. He attempted to reform the system by which money was handled, placing all responsibility for borrowing with the government while increasing control of spending at a district or municipal level. However, growing economic problems caused his plan to encounter difficulties. As
465-722: The Richmond family. On arriving in New Zealand, Harry and Arthur bought farmland in Taranaki , as did the Richmonds, and also the Ronalds family – five brothers and sisters of Dr Edmund Ronalds . James and William Richmond also later entered politics and the Ronalds sisters married Atkinson's brothers. Atkinson's correspondence shows that he was highly satisfied with his decision to move to New Zealand, seeing it as an opportunity to prosper. He named his small farmhouse Hurworth after
496-699: The country by borrowing overseas to build railways, roads and telegraph lines and to attract immigrants. The Fox ministry having been forced to resign, Vogel carried a vote of no confidence in their successors, and in October 1872, returned to power as leader in the Lower House, colonial treasurer and postmaster-general. He represented several electorates throughout the colony: Dunedin and Suburbs North 1863–1866, Goldfields in Otago 1866–1870, Auckland East 1871–1875, Wanganui 1876 (resigned) and Christchurch North 1884–1889 (resigned). Vogel successfully contested
527-433: The economy declined, Atkinson became more and more unpopular. Atkinson lost power in 1877, only slightly over a year after he gained it. He entered opposition, continuing to promote his ideas of financial caution. He also proposed a number of other measures, including national insurance. In 1883, he managed to make a comeback, gaining the Premiership for eleven months before losing it to Robert Stout . The two then engaged in
558-529: The formation of voluntary military units to fight in the New Zealand Wars , and was noted for his strong belief in the need for seizure of Māori land. Atkinson, born in 1831 in the English village of Broxton, Cheshire , received his education in England, but chose at the age of 22 to follow his elder brother William to New Zealand. He was accompanied by his brother Arthur together with members of
589-407: The policies of Julius Vogel (who also happened to be a supporter of Māori land rights). Vogel, who supported extensive borrowing to finance public works, was attacked by Atkinson as reckless. Vogel's response was that Atkinson was overly cautious, and would delay economic progress. Atkinson and Vogel both agreed, however, that borrowing by provincial government (as opposed to the central government)
620-634: The wishes of his friends, and on 23 January 1891 he was appointed to the Legislative Council , along with six other men, to attempt to block any radical bills that Ballance might introduce in the Lower House. Ballance became Premier on 24 January, and appointed Atkinson as Speaker of the Legislative Council. The Liberals, who represented the ideas of William Fox, Julius Vogel, and many other of Atkinson's opponents, were to hold power for 21 years after Atkinson's defeat, but Atkinson
651-635: The worst of the Long Depression, and Atkinson cut salaries, raised loans and raised customs duties. He was not popular with the wealthy, but they feared the Opposition leaders Grey and Ballance even more. During this term, Atkinson was Colonial Treasurer (1887–1891), Postmaster-General (1887–1889), Commissioner of Telegraphs (1887–1889), Minister of Marine (1887–1891), Commissioner of Stamps (1887–1891), Minister of Education (1889), and Commissioner of Trade and Customs. In January 1888, Atkinson
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#1732782800060682-490: Was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom contemporaneously to Vogel's premiership. Vogel has a reputation as the first New Zealander to write a science-fiction novel: Anno Domini 2000, or, Woman's Destiny , published in 1889. It anticipated a utopian world where women held many positions of authority. New Zealand went on to become the first country to give women the vote , and, from 1997 to 2008, continuously had
713-495: Was agent-general for New Zealand in London, and, in 1884, he was again a member of the government of the colony. During his political career, Vogel worked generally successfully for reconciliation with the Māori people . In 1887, he introduced the first women's suffrage Bill to Parliament, but suffrage was not granted until 1893. He was knighted in 1875. He finally gave up the colonial office in 1887; from which date he lived in England and
744-560: Was an excellent policymaker but he needed a strong leader to restrain him....Yet Vogel had vision. He saw New Zealand as a potential 'Britain of the South Seas', strong both in agriculture and in industry, and inhabited by a large and flourishing population. Born in London, Vogel received his early education at University College School in University College, Gower St London. He later studied chemistry and metallurgy at
775-453: Was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George . A Freemason , he was installed as the Wellington district grand master in May 1888. By 1890 Atkinson was too ill to make speeches in the House. In 1891, Atkinson was finally superseded as Premier by John Ballance of the newly created Liberal Party , the country's first organised political party. Atkinson acceded to
806-770: Was indeed out of control. The two also believed that provincial politicians were petty and self-interested, and that more co-operation was needed between provinces and the state. It was this shared view of provincial government that enabled Vogel and Atkinson to co-operate, although they never resolved their differences on borrowing by the central government or on dealings with the Māori. Atkinson eventually became part of Vogel's cabinet , but not with portfolios related to negotiations with Māori or to finance. He did continue to express his opinions on these matters, but found it increasingly harder to convince people of his views. Defunct In 1876, Vogel retired, and Atkinson managed to secure
837-1006: Was not to see this. After presiding over the first meeting of the Council on 28 June in the 1892 session, Atkinson returned to the Speaker's Room, where he died. He was buried in Karori Cemetery . Knight Commander of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.132 via cp1112 cp1112, Varnish XID 942108596 Upstream caches: cp1112 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Thu, 28 Nov 2024 08:33:20 GMT Julius Vogel Sir Julius Vogel KCMG (24 February 1835 – 12 March 1899)
868-477: Was policy regarding Māori-owned land, which he wished to see taken over by the British settlers. Continued Māori ownership, he believed, prevented economic development for the colony. Atkinson and his Richmond relations regarded the Māori as "savages", and believed in war as a reasonable option for ensuring Māori co-operation with British land-acquisition. The death of William Cutfield King in February 1861 caused
899-559: Was promoted to major in February 1864. Atkinson first became involved in politics, as a member of the Taranaki provincial council . He represented the Grey and Bell electorate from 1857 to 1865, and again from 1873 to 1874. He was a member of the Executive Council from 1868 ^ and again in 1874 (May to October). He was Deputy Superintendent in 1861–1862 to Charles Brown , and again in 1863. Of particular interest to him
930-519: Was the Agent-General for New Zealand. Vogel is best remembered for his "Great Public Works " scheme of the 1870s. Before 1870, New Zealand was a country largely dominated by provincial interests and pork-barrel politics. After Vogel, as colonial treasurer, proposed borrowing the massive sum of 10 million pounds, New Zealand developed a significant infrastructure of roads, railways and communication, all administered by central government. Vogel
961-404: Was the eighth premier of New Zealand . His administration is best remembered for the issuing of bonds to fund railway construction and other public works. He was the first Jewish prime minister of New Zealand. Historian Warwick R. Armstrong assesses Vogel's strengths and weaknesses: Vogel's politics were like his nature, imaginative – and occasionally brilliant – but reckless and speculative. He