John Bitchener

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The Honourable
John Bitchener
OBE
20th Minister of Works
In office
10 April 1933 – 6 December 1935
Prime MinisterGeorge Forbes
Preceded byGordon Coates
Succeeded byBob Semple
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Waitaki
In office
17 December 1919 – 1 November 1935
Preceded byJohn Anstey
Succeeded byDavid Barnes
Personal details
Born1864
Stagsden, Bedfordshire, England
Died (aged 87)
New Zealand
Resting placeOld Waimate Cemetery
Occupationpolitician

John Bitchener OBE (1864 – 10 March 1952) was a Reform Party Member of Parliament in New Zealand. He was a cabinet minister from 1933 to 1935 in the Reform Government of New Zealand.

Early life[edit]

Bitchener was born in 1864 in Stagsden, Bedfordshire, England.[1] His father was Alfred Bitchener, who was born in 1844 in Cranfield, Bedfordshire, England.[2] His mother was Mary Ann Bitchener (née Welch), and his parents had married on 9 February 1864. John Bitchener had two younger sisters. After his wife's death, Alfred Bitchener decided to emigrate to New Zealand together with his sister Anne, who had married a brother of his late wife. The Bitchener and Welch families arrived in Lyttelton Harbour in January 1875 on the Lady Jocelyn[3] and the Welchs had two infants at the time.[4]

Alfred Bitchener moved to the Waimate District and worked as a farm labourer for three or four years, and then became a saw milling contractor.[2] John Bitchener received his education at Waimate Public School and then joined his father as a contractor in Waimate, before moving to Southland for four years.[1] His father bought a farm in Hook, some 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) southwest of Waimate, and John Bitchener moved to live there, too.[2]

Public roles[edit]

New Zealand Parliament
Years Term Electorate Party
1919–1922 20th Waitaki Reform
1922–1925 21st Waitaki Reform
1925–1928 22nd Waitaki Reform
1928–1931 23rd Waitaki Reform
1931–1935 24th Waitaki Reform

Like his father,[2] John Bitchener joined many organisations and took leading roles.[1] He was chairman of the Hook School Committee, he was a member of the Waimate County Council for eleven years, was a member of the Timaru Boys' High School Board including chairman for some time, was a member of the Timaru Harbour Board, was on the Waimate High School Board, and was president of the South Canterbury Farmers' Union. He was a member of the Advisory Board of the Farmers' Union in Wellington, was chairman of the Waimate Cooperative Flour Milling Company, and a director of the Canterbury Farmers' Cooperative Association.[1]

He was elected as Member of Parliament for Waitaki in the 1919 general election, but was defeated in 1935.[5] He was Minister of Works under George Forbes from 10 April 1933 to 6 December 1935, when the Coalition Government was defeated.[6]

In 1935, he was awarded the King George V Silver Jubilee Medal.[7] In the 1950 New Year Honours, Bitchener was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for public and municipal services.[8]

Family[edit]

While living in Southland, Bitchener married Mary Laughton from Scotland in Invercargill in 1887. Their son was John Alfred Bitchener.[9] They had a daughter, Jessie Laughton Bitchener, who died on 6 December 1895 at age four.[10] Another daughter, Eva Laughton Bitchener, lived until old age and died in 1985 aged 89.[10] His father, Alfred Bitchener, died suddenly in January 1918 at Waimate.[11] His wife, Mary, died on 17 August 1946.[10] John Bitchener died on 10 March 1952.[10] Apart from John Alfred Bitchener, all of these are buried in the Bitchener family grave at Old Waimate Cemetery.[10]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d "Mr. John Bitchener". The Evening Post. Vol. XCVIII, no. 146. 18 December 1919. p. 10. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d Cyclopedia Company Limited (1903). "Old Colonists". The Cyclopedia of New Zealand : Canterbury Provincial District. Christchurch: The Cyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  3. ^ "The Arrival of the Lady Jocelyn". The Press. Vol. XXIII, no. 2940. 22 January 1875. p. 2. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  4. ^ "Lady Jocelyn". Archives New Zealand. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  5. ^ Wilson 1985, p. 184.
  6. ^ Wilson 1985, p. 82.
  7. ^ "Official jubilee medals". The Evening Post. 6 May 1935. p. 4. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  8. ^ "No. 38798". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 December 1949. p. 36.
  9. ^ "John Alfred Bitchener". Auckland War Memorial Museum. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  10. ^ a b c d e "WDC Cemetery Viewer". Waimate District. Archived from the original on 28 April 2015. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  11. ^ "Obituary". The Press. Vol. LIV, no. 16118. 24 January 1918. p. 8. Retrieved 13 March 2015.

References[edit]

  • Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First published in 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.
Political offices
Preceded by Minister of Works
1933–1935 		Succeeded by
New Zealand Parliament
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Waitaki
1919–1935 		Succeeded by
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