William Pember Reeves

Infobox Prime Minister
name = William Pember Reeves


imagesize = 200px
birth_date = 10 February 1857-death date and age|1932|5|16|1857|2|10|
birth_place = New Zealand
monarch = Queen Victoria
order = Minister of Labour
term_start = 1891
term_end = 1896
order2 = Agent-General
term_start2 = 1896
term_end2 = 1905
order3 = High Commissioner
term_start3 = 1905
term_end3 = 1908
governor-general2 =
primeminister2 =
predecessor2 =
successor2 =
spouse = Magdalen Stuart Robison
occupation = lawyer and journalist
religion =
party = LiberalThe Hon. William Pember Reeves (10 February 1857 - death date and age|1932|5|16|1857|2|10| was a New Zealand statesman, historian and poet, who promoted social reform.

Biography

Reeves' parents were William Reeves (who was a journalist and politician) and Ellen neé Pember; they had migrated to Canterbury in 1857, arriving three weeks before he was born.

He was educated at a private “prep” school in Christchurch, the local high school, and (1867–74) the Christ's College Grammar School.cite web
year = 2007
url = http://www.teara.govt.nz/1966/R/ReevesTheHonWilliamPember/ReevesTheHonWilliamPember/en
title = REEVES, the Hon. William Pember
format = HTML
publisher = Encyclopedia of New Zealand 1966
accessdate = 2007-07-16
last=by Keith Sinclair, M.A., PH.D., Professor of History, University of Auckland. ] Before entering politics, Reeves was a lawyer and journalist. He was editor of the "Canterbury Times" in 1885 and the "Lyttelton Times" (1889-1891)cite web
year = 2007
url = http://www.dnzb.govt.nz/dnzb/default.asp?Find_Quick.asp?PersonEssay=2R11
title = Reeves, William Pember
format = HTML
publisher = Dictionary of New Zealand Biography:
accessdate = 2007-07-16
last= Keith Sinclair ] .

;Political CareerHe represented the Christchurch seat of St Albans in Parliament from 1887 to 1890, and then Christchurch from 1890 to 1896, when he resigned. He served as Minister of Labour (1891-1896) during the premierships of John Ballance and Richard Seddon. As Minister he introduced the "Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act 1894" and the Immigrants Exclusion Bill which barred immigrants from the country. His anti-foreigner stance earned him the nickname ‘Undesirable Bill’ Reeves.cite web
year = 2007
url = http://www.teara.govt.nz/NewZealanders/NewZealandPeoples/ImmigrationRegulation/2/ENZ-Resources/Biography/1/mi
title = Immigration regulation
format = HTML
publisher = teara.govt.nz
accessdate = 2007-07-16
last= ] ;London BoundIn 1896 he left New Zealand for London, where he was Agent-General (1896-1905) and High Commissioner (1905-1908). He then became Director of the London School of Economics (1908-1919). While in England, 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 Fabian and LSE members. He was also a member of the Coefficients dining club of social reformers.

In later life, Reeves served as Chairman of the Board of the National Bank of New Zealand (1917-1931) and President of the Anglo-Hellenic League (1913-1925).

Some of 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".

William Pember Reeves married, in 1885, the feminist Magdalen Stuart Robison, who joined the Fabian Society. They had one son (Fabian Pember Reeves, who died in the First World War) and two daughters, one of whom was the feminist writer Amber Reeves.

References

External links

* [http://www.teara.govt.nz/1966/R/ReevesTheHonWilliamPember/ReevesTheHonWilliamPember/en Biography in the 1966 "Encyclopaedia of New Zealand"]
* William Pember Reeves Gutenberg|no=12411|name=The Long White Cloud