Thomas Lewis

Thomas William Lewis was a long-serving Native Department official. He worked for six Native Ministers between 1869 and 1891, the last 12 years as Under-Secretary of the Department.

In 1891 Lewis reported to a commission of inquiry into Maori land laws. He stated that the major purpose of the Crown's Maori policy during the previous two decades had been to open up Maori land for European settlement. He claimed that unless this was achieved the main planks of Crown policy - the Native Lands Acts and the Native Land Court - served "no good purpose".