Reginald Hardie Boys

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In this article, the surname is Hardie Boys, not Boys.

The Honourable
Reginald Hardie Boys
QC
Born(1903-06-08)8 June 1903
Otautau, New Zealand
Died6 December 1970(1970-12-06) (aged 67)
Auckland, New Zealand
Occupations
  • Lawyer
  • judge
Spouse
Edith May Bennett
​
(m. 1929)​
Children2
RelativesMichael Hardie Boys (son)

Reginald Hardie Boys QC (8 June 1903 – 6 December 1970) was a New Zealand lawyer and judge. He was appointed Queen's Counsel and a judge of the Supreme Court (now High Court) in 1958.

Early life and family[edit]

Hardie Boys was born in Otautau on 8 June 1903, the son of Frederick William Boys, a Primitive Methodist clergyman, and Hannah Jane Boys (née Hardie).[1][2][3] His surname at birth was Boys, but he later used his middle name (his mother's maiden name) as part of his surname, sometimes written Hardie-Boys. He was educated at Palmerston North Boys' High School.[4]

On 2 October 1929, Hardie Boys married Edith May Bennett at St Paul's Methodist Church in Palmerston North,[5] and the couple went on to have two sons, including Michael Hardie Boys.[2][4]

Career[edit]

Hardie Boys became a barrister and solicitor in 1924, practising in Wellington. Over the following 33 years, he worked either on his own account, or as a senior partner in his own law firm conducted under various firm names including: Hardie Boys and Fortune; Hardie Boys, Haldane, and Fortune; Hardie Boys and Haldane; and Scott, Hardie Boys and Morrison.[6][7][8] The majority of his legal practice was in the courts, particularly in the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal in later years.[9] In 1948, he was counsel for the Crown before the parliamentary inquiry into the film industry,[10] and in 1954 he was appointed counsel to assist the board of inquiry that investigated the Tangiwai railway disaster.[11]

On 4 March 1958, Hardie Boys was appointed Queen's Counsel,[12][13] and in July that year he was appointed a judge of the Supreme Court, to be based in Auckland.[9] In October 1968, he was appointed an additional judge for the Court of Appeal.[14]

Hardie Boys served the legal profession as a council member of both the Wellington District Law Society and the New Zealand Law Society, and was president of the Wellington District Law Society in 1954.[9]

Military service[edit]

During the later years of World War II, Hardie Boys served in the Pacific as part of N Force, having been commissioned as a second lieutenant (temporary) in the Wellington Regiment (City of Wellington's Own) on 3 April 1942.[9][15][16]

Hardie Boys later served as president of the Wellington branch of the Returned Services' Association (RSA),[9] and was also a member of the national executive committee of the RSA.[17]

Death and legacy[edit]

Hardie Boys died in Auckland on 6 December 1970, at the age of 67.[4] His obituary in The Press newspaper described him as "one of New Zealand's foremost legal figures".[4] His wife, Edith May Hardie Boys, died in 1985.[18][19] Their son, Michael, became a judge of the High Court in 1980, a judge of the Court of Appeal and privy counsellor in 1989, and served as New Zealand's 17th governor-general, from 1996 to 2001.[20][21]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Petersen, G. C., ed. (1961). Who's Who in New Zealand (7th ed.). Wellington: Reed. p. 150.
  2. ^ a b Burt, D. H. (1996). "The governor general and a Primitive Methodist heritage". Wesley Historical Society (NZ) Journal (63): 4–5. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  3. ^ "Golden weddings". The New Zealand Herald. Vol. 82, no. 25124. 10 February 1945. p. 1. Retrieved 2 January 2024 – via PapersPast.
  4. ^ a b c d "Death of judge". The Press. Vol. 110, no. 32473. 7 December 1970. p. 16. Retrieved 2 January 2024 – via PapersPast.
  5. ^ "Wedding". The Dominion. Vol. 23, no. 7. 3 October 1929. p. 4. Retrieved 2 January 2024 – via PapersPast.
  6. ^ "Legal notice". Evening Post. Vol. 111, no. 51. 2 March 1931. p. 2. Retrieved 2 January 2024 – via PapersPast.
  7. ^ "Legal notice". Evening Post. Vol. 122, no. 64. 12 September 1936. p. 5. Retrieved 2 January 2024 – via PapersPast.
  8. ^ Clarkson, Neil (18 April 1989). "Chch judge for Court of Appeal". The Press. p. 12. Retrieved 2 January 2024 – via PapersPast.
  9. ^ a b c d e "New judge appointed". The Press. Vol. 97, no. 28646. 24 July 1958. p. 12. Retrieved 2 January 2024 – via PapersPast.
  10. ^ "Film industry inquiry". Ashburton Guardian. Vol. 68, no. 186. 19 May 1948. p. 2. Retrieved 2 January 2024 – via PapersPast.
  11. ^ "Tangiwai rail disaster: counsel to assist inquiry". The Press. Vol. 90, no. 27263. 2 February 1954. p. 3. Retrieved 2 January 2024 – via PapersPast.
  12. ^ "Personal items". The Press. Vol. 97, no. 28528. 6 March 1958. p. 10. Retrieved 2 January 2024 – via PapersPast.
  13. ^ "Appointment of Queen's Counsel" (PDF). New Zealand Gazette. 6 March 1958. p. 298. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  14. ^ "Additional judge for Court of Appeal appointed" (PDF). New Zealand Gazette. 14 November 1968. p. 2073. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  15. ^ "Reginald Hardie Boys". Online Cenotaph. Auckland War Memorial Museum. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  16. ^ "Appointments, promotions, and resignations of officers of the New Zealand Military Forces" (PDF). New Zealand Gazette. No. 80. 27 August 1942. p. 2118. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  17. ^ "National R.S.A. officers". The Press. Vol. 90, no. 27379. 18 June 1954. p. 8. Retrieved 2 January 2024 – via PapersPast.
  18. ^ "Legal notice". Evening Post. Vol. 122, no. 64. 12 September 1936. p. 5. Retrieved 2 January 2024 – via PapersPast.
  19. ^ "Deaths". The Press. 21 May 1985. p. 43. Retrieved 2 January 2024 – via PapersPast.
  20. ^ "Privy Council titles". The Press. 13 September 1989. p. 3. Retrieved 2 January 2024 – via PapersPast.
  21. ^ "Former Governor-General Sir Michael Hardie Boys dies". RNZ News. 30 December 2023. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
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