# William Montgomery Jr. > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/William_Montgomery_Jr. > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/William_Montgomery_Jr..md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Montgomery_Jr. > Source revision: 1332861510 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|New Zealand politician (1866–1958)}} {{Distinguish|William Montgomery (New Zealand politician)}} {{Use New Zealand English|date=February 2017}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2017}} {{NZ parlbox header|nolist=true|align=right}} {{NZ parlbox |start = {{NZ election link year|1893}} |end = 1896 |term = 12th |electorate = {{NZ electorate link|Ellesmere}} |party = New Zealand Liberal Party }} {{NZ parlbox |start = {{NZ election link year|1896}} |end = 1899 |term = 13th |electorate = Ellesmere |party = New Zealand Liberal Party }} {{End}} thumb|right|William Montgomery Jr. '''William Hugh Montgomery''' {{post-nominals|country=NZL|CBE}} (14 September 1866 – 27 July 1958) was a New Zealand politician of the [Liberal Party](/source/New_Zealand_Liberal_Party), from the [Canterbury](/source/Canterbury%2C_New_Zealand) region. Born in [Opawa](/source/Opawa), [Christchurch](/source/Christchurch) in 1866, he was the eldest son of [William Montgomery](/source/William_Montgomery_(New_Zealand_politician)), who had represented the [Akaroa](/source/Akaroa_(New_Zealand_electorate)) electorate.{{Cite news |date=28 July 1958 |title=Obituary : Mr W. H. Montgomery of Little RIver |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19580728.2.146 |work=[The Press](/source/The_Press) |pages=12 |via=Papers Past}} Montgomery attended primary school at [French Farm](/source/French_Farm%2C_New_Zealand), and his high school education was at [Christ's College](/source/Christ's_College%2C_Christchurch) and then [Christchurch Boys' High School](/source/Christchurch_Boys'_High_School)—he was the first day pupil to enrol there, and is the first name on the school roll. He graduated with a BA from [Balliol College, Oxford](/source/Balliol_College%2C_Oxford), in 1887, gaining first-class honours in [jurispridence](/source/Jurisprudence). He was then [admitted to the bar](/source/Admission_to_practice_law) in London, before returning to Christchurch in 1890 to practice for a short time at the firm of Garrick, Cowlishaw and Fisher, and being admitted as [barrister](/source/barrister) and [solicitor](/source/solicitor) to the [Supreme Court of New Zealand](/source/Supreme_Court_of_New_Zealand). Soon afterwards he took over managing his father's farm ''Wairewa'' in [Little River](/source/Little_River%2C_Banks_Peninsula), [Banks Peninsula](/source/Banks_Peninsula), and remained there the rest of his life.{{Cite news |date=22 May 1954 |title=Old parliamentarian looks back 60 years |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19540522.2.39 |work=The Press |pages=3 |via=Papers Past}} When [John Hall](/source/John_Hall_(New_Zealand_politician)) retired from the {{NZ electorate link|Ellesmere}} at the {{NZ election link|1893}}, Montgomery stood as a Liberal and defeated the senior politician [William Rolleston](/source/William_Rolleston).{{cite web |title=The General Election, 1893 |year=1894 |publisher=[National Library](/source/National_Library_of_New_Zealand) |url= http://atojs.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/atojs?a=d&cl=search&d=AJHR1894-I.2.3.2.21 |access-date=19 November 2013 |page=2}} Montgomery represented the electorate in the [12th](/source/12th_New_Zealand_Parliament) and [13th parliaments](/source/13th_New_Zealand_Parliament) under Prime Minister [Richard Seddon](/source/Richard_Seddon), defeating Frederick Anson in 1896 and speaking extensively in support of the [Liberal government's](/source/Liberal_Government_of_New_Zealand) Old-age Pensions Bill that passed in 1898. He was defeated by 104 votes in 1899 by Conservative [Heaton Rhodes](/source/Heaton_Rhodes).{{cite book |last= Wilson |first= Jim | author-link=Jim Wilson (librarian) |title= New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 |edition= 4th |orig-year= First ed. published 1913 |year= 1985 |publisher= V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer |location= Wellington |oclc=154283103 |page=221}} Montgomery founded the Banks Peninsula Agricultural and Pastoral Association in 1909, and was president until 1913. He was appointed Metropolitan Commissioner of [Boy Scouts](/source/Scouting_and_Guiding_in_New_Zealand) in 1930, and founded the Little River Show. He served on the North Canterbury Hospital Board, and the Board of Governors of [Canterbury College](/source/Canterbury_College%2C_Christchurch). In the [1919 King's Birthday Honours](/source/1919_Birthday_Honours_(New_Zealand)) Montgomery was appointed a [Commander of the Order of the British Empire](/source/Commander_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire) for services as assistant director of the Base Records Office during [World War I](/source/World_War_I).{{London Gazette |issue=31422 |date=27 June 1919 | page=8088}} Montgomery maintained a strong interest in tree planting and the preservation of native forest. As a Wairewa County Councillor from 1910 until 1944 he supervised the planting of a memorial avenue of [lime](/source/Tilia) trees in [Cooptown](/source/Little_River%2C_Banks_Peninsula) to commemorate the centenary of the signing of the [Treaty of Waitangi](/source/Treaty_of_Waitangi). As chair of the Little River Domain Board he organised the extensive tree planting around Awa Iti Domain. In 1941 Montgomery gifted 40 acres of native bush, containing mature [tōtara](/source/Podocarpus_totara) and [mataī](/source/Prumnopitys_taxifolia) trees, to Wairewa County Council, who named it Montgomery Park; it is now [Montgomery Park Scenic Reserve](/source/Montgomery_Park_Scenic_Reserve).{{Cite news |date=2 January 1941 |title=Gift to Wairewa County: native bush reserve at hilltop |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19410102.2.39 |work=[The Press](/source/The_Press) |pages=5 |via=Papers Past}} Montgomery donated £1000 in 1955 to enable a youth hostel to be built in the reserve. Montgomery married Edina Mary Allen, daughter of [James Allen](/source/James_Allen_(New_Zealand_politician)), in 1902 and had two daughters, Hilda and Iris. He died at his home'' Waiwera'' in 1958, aged 91 years, at that time New Zealand's oldest former Parliamentarian.{{Cite news |date=29 July 1958 |title=A Long Life, Well Lived |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19580729.2.70 |work=The Press |pages=10 |via=Papers Past}}{{cite web|url= https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19580728.2.2.3?end_date=29-07-1958&items_per_page=10&query=Montgomery&snippet=true&start_date=25-07-1958&type=ARTICLE |title= Deaths |publisher= Papers Past (National Library of New Zealand ) |date= 1958 }} ==References== {{Reflist}} ==Further reading== *{{cite book |last=Montgomery |first=William Hugh |author-link=William Montgomery Jr. |title=Notes on My Life |year=1995 |publisher=Shoal Bay Press |isbn=0908704356}} {{s-start}} {{S-par | nz}} {{s-bef | before = [John Hall](/source/John_Hall_(New_Zealand_politician))}} {{s-ttl | title = [Member of Parliament for Ellesmere](/source/Ellesmere_(New_Zealand_electorate)) | years=1893–1899}} {{S-aft | after = [Heaton Rhodes](/source/Heaton_Rhodes)}} {{end}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Montgomery, William Jr}} Category:New Zealand Liberal Party MPs Category:1866 births Category:1958 deaths Category:New Zealand Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Category:19th-century New Zealand politicians Category:Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [William Montgomery Jr.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Montgomery_Jr.) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Montgomery_Jr.?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.