William Pember Reeves

William Pember Reeves ( born February 10, 1857 in Lyttelton, † May 16 1932 in London) was a New Zealand statesman, historian and poet who fought for social reforms. He belonged to the Liberal Party.

Life

William Pember Reeves was the son of the journalist and politician William Reeves and Ellen Reeves, born Pember, who were in 1857, emigrated just three weeks before his birth, to Canterbury.

He received his education at a private school in Christchurch, at the local high school and from 1867 to 1874 at Christ 's College Grammar School. Prior to his political career, he worked as a lawyer and journalist. He was editor of the Canterbury Times in 1885 and 1889 to 1891 the Lyttelton Times.

Political career

Reeves represented the constituency St Albans from 1887 to 1890 in the New Zealand Parliament, then from 1890 to 1896 the electoral district of Christchurch. In 1896 he resigned to take up the post of Agent - General for New Zealand. He was from 1891 to 1896 under John Ballance Richard Seddon and Minister of Labour. During his time as Minister of Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act 1894 and the Immigrants Exclusion Bill was passed that stopped immigration to New Zealand. His xenophobic politics earned him the nickname " Undesirable Bill ' Reeves ' a.

In January 1896 he traveled to London where he from 1896 to 1905 as General Agent, then until 1908 as High Commissioner, thus as the highest-ranking diplomat in New Zealand in the United Kingdom, served. After that, he was until 1919 Director of the London School of Economics during his time in England, he became friends with a number of leftist intellectuals such as George Bernard Shaw, HG Wells, Sidney and Beatrice Webb. These all belonged to the Fabian Society and the London School of Economics. He was a member of the social reform Dinner Clubs The Coefficients.

From 1917 to 1931, Reeves CEO of National Bank of New Zealand and 1913-1925 President of the Anglo - Hellenic League.

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

Works

Reeves wrote a history of New Zealand: The Long White Cloud ( 1898) and State Experiments in Australia and New Zealand ( 1902). He also published poems like The Passing of the Forest and A Colonist in his Garden.