Kiwi of the Week
Personal Details
Lifetime:
-
18 Dec 1824
~
25 Jun 1907
Name:
- John Hall
Keyword tags:
Calendar events
- 5 November 1881 Attack on pacifist settlement at Parihaka
- 14 August 1891 Women's vote petitions presented to Parliament
- 28 July 1893 Women's suffrage petition presented
- 19 September 1893 Women's suffrage day
- 28 November 1893 Women vote in first general election
John Hall
Age on becoming premier: 55
Electorate: Selwyn
John (later Sir John) Hall was a force in our politics for several decades, leading the parliamentary campaign for votes for women.
Hall came to Canterbury to farm but soon entered provincial and central politics. Apart from trips back to Britain and some ill health, he was usually in Cabinet. After the Grey ministry fell in October 1879, he forged an alliance with Auckland politicians. His legacy was mixed. He passed Grey’s Triennial Parliaments Act and enfranchised men 21 years of age or older, but was financially conservative. One of his ministers led the raid on the Māori village of Parihaka.
Hall’s government scraped back in at the 1882 election, but he was ill and resigned to recuperate in England. After returning here, he worked with Kate Sheppard for female suffrage and led the parliamentary fight to have the legislation passed.
Sir John retired from politics in 1893 but was honoured by his province by being elected mayor of Christchurch in 1906 for its international exhibition. Hall had been the first chairman of the municipal council.
Written by Gavin McLean
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