William Herries

Sir William Herbert Herries (19 April 1859 – 22 February 1923) was an English-born New Zealand politician who served as a member of the Piako County Council and later as MP for Bay of Plenty and Tauranga.

Biography

Herries was born in London, the son of Herbert Crompton Herries, a barrister, and his wife, Leonora Emma Wickham. His grandfather was Henry Lewis Wickham, a Receiver General of Gibraltar. The English MP William Wickham was his uncle. From a wealthy middle-class family, he was educated at Eton College and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he studied natural sciences.

The Herries travelled to England in 1912; they left on 21 March on the Iconic. The journey was a disaster, though. Just before they left, his mother died in New Zealand. His wife, who had been in indifferent health, died on the journey to England.

He was the Minister of Native Affairs from 1912 to February 1921, Minister of Railways from 1912 to 1919, Minister of Marine and Minister of Customs from 1919 to February 1921, and Minister of Labour from 1920 to February 1921 in the Reform Government.

He died in Wellington on 22 February 1923. The Herries Memorial Park in Te Aroha is named after Herries and established by a bequeathment from his will.

Sir James Parr said of Herries:

Footnotes