Pages tagged with: governor-general

New Zealand has had 16 resident governors and 19 Governors-General. Two early governors were called governor-in-chief.

'To be invisible is to be forgotten,' constitutional theorist Walter Bagehot (1826–77) warned. For the King or Queen's New Zealand representative, the Governor-General, that meant hitting the road

New Zealand has had a governor or (from 1917) a Governor-General since 1840. The work of these men and women has reflected the constitutional and political history of New Zealand in many ways.

Until the late 1960s New Zealand's Governors-General were British, mainly minor aristocrats or admirals or generals.

Empire Day (24 May), was celebrated widely in New Zealand from 1903 and was a major event in the Vice-regal calendar.

New Zealanders still loved a good viceregal do. In 1948, for example, at the Dunedin railway station, almost everyone turned out to welcome Sir Bernard and Lady Freyberg (1946–52): the mayor, city councillors and senior staff, local Members of Parliament, county councillors, harbour and hospital board members and officers.

The Governor-General's duties are divided into three functions: ceremonial, community and constitutional.

Why did we celebrate Empire Day?

Until the late 1960s New Zealand's Governors-General were British, mainly minor aristocrats or admirals and generals. Few had visited New Zealand, so they needed advice about its climate, customs and cultures.

As the job evolved over time, so did the type of person needed to govern successfully. Between 1840 and 1853, when governors ruled personally, they were junior navy or army officers.

Empire may have shrunk in the 1950s, but no one wanted to be bypassed.

New Zealand became a British colony in 1840, legitimised by the Treaty of Waitangi and Lieutenant-Governor William Hobson's declaration of 21 May declaring sovereignty over the islands.

24 May, Queen Victoria's birthday, was Empire Day. Most people welcomed this link to 'Queen Victoria the Good' in the days when the celebration of the sovereign's birthday changed with each new monarch.

The new Governor-General had to make a good impression. That meant landing in the capital.

From 1840 until 1972 New Zealand's governors and Governors-General were British.

Like his predecessors, Sir Denis Blundell (1972–7) travelled widely throughout New Zealand.

In the 1840s settlers were demanding a say in government. Governor Grey suspended an overly elaborate constitution in 1846, but the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 gave male voters representative government.

The first Empire Day was commemorated in 1903

As the new boy would have known, it was a so-called job for the boys, a political gift. Lords Bledisloe (1930–35), Galway (1935–41) and Sir Bernard Freyberg (1946–52), for example, were Conservatives.