William Pember Reeves

The Honourable William Pember Reeves
Portrait of William Pember Reeves possibly taken when he was elected to be a member of parliament in 1887
Minister of Labour
In office 1891–1896
Monarch	Queen Victoria
Prime Minister	John Ballance Richard Seddon
5th Agent-General to the United Kingdom
In office 1896–1905
Preceded by	Westby Perceval
1st High Commissioner to the United Kingdom
In office 1905–1908
Succeeded by	William Hall-Jones
Personal details
Born	10 February 1857 Lyttelton, Canterbury Region, New Zealand
Died	16 May 1932(1932-05-16) (aged 75) London
Political party	Liberal
Spouse(s)	Magdalen Stuart Robison
Relations	William Reeves (father)
Children	Amber Reeves
Occupation	lawyer and journalist

William Pember Reeves (10 February 1857 – 16 May 1932) was a New Zealand politician, 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.^[1]

He was educated at a private "prep" school in Christchurch, the local high school and, from 1867 to 1874, Christ's College Grammar School.^[2] Before entering politics, Reeves was a lawyer and journalist. He was editor of the Canterbury Times in 1885 and the Lyttelton Times (1889–1891).^[3]

Political career

Reeves represented the Christchurch electorate of St Albans in Parliament from 1887 to 1890, and then Christchurch from 1890 to 1896, when he resigned to take up the post of Agent General.^[4] During the premierships of John Ballance (1891–93) and Richard Seddon (1893–1906) he served as Minister of Labour (1892–96), Minister of Education (1891–96), Minister of Justice (1891–92, 1893, 1895–96) and Commissioner of Stamp Duties (1892–96).^[5] As Minister of Labour he introduced the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act 1894 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.^[6]

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, H. G. Wells, and Sidney and Beatrice Webb, all leading members of the Fabian Society. He was also a member of the Coefficients dining club of social reformers.

William Pember Reeves in 1925

Reeves became Director of the London School of Economics (1908–19) and President of the Anglo-Hellenic League (1913–25). He also headed the committee organising the First Universal Races Congress in London in 1911. Finally, he was chairman of the board of the National Bank of New Zealand from 1917 to 31.

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, in 1885, the feminist Magdalen Stuart Robison, who 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, aged 21, as a Flight Lieutenant in the RNAS.

Reeves three times declined offers of a knighthood.^[3]

Notes

References

• Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to William Pember Reeves.

Wikisource has original works written by or about: William Pember Reeves

• Biography in the 1966 Encyclopaedia of New Zealand
• Works by William Pember Reeves at Project Gutenberg
• Works by or about William Pember Reeves at Internet Archive
• The Long White Cloud at Project Gutenberg, or at the New Zealand Electronic Text Centre
• "The Passing of the Forest" at the New Zealand Electronic Text Centre