William Swainson

William Swainson (25 April 1809 – 1 December 1884) became the second, and last, Attorney-General of the Crown colony of New Zealand and instrumental in setting up the legal system of New Zealand. He was the first Speaker of the New Zealand Legislative Council.

Early life Swainson was born in Lancaster, England on 25 April 1809 and educated in Lancaster Grammar School. His legal education was in Middle Temple and he was called to the bar in 1838.

HMS Tyne He worked in conveyancing for only a few years, and with this relatively little experience was appointed to be Attorney-General of New Zealand in 1841. The ship HMS Tyne left England taking Swainson and two other prominent figures in the future of New Zealand law, the Hon Sir William Martin, who was to become the first Chief Justice, and Thomas Outhwaite, who was to become Registrar of the Supreme Court in Auckland, to New Zealand. On the ship the three men began to draft "in simple, concise and intelligible language" a new system of laws which they planned to be ideal for the new colony of New Zealand.

Legal and political activities

Within six months of their arrival in New Zealand on 25 September 1841, 19 enactments had been passed creating the basis of governance in the new colony. "no more than a leap away from Swainson's grave.". Swainson died a bachelor in Auckland, on 1 December 1884,

Ecclesiastical activities Bishop Selwyn approached him to help create the basis of an independent church, tied to the Church of England, by drafting its constitution, although the church never became the established religion. In 1866 Swainson became chancellor of the Anglican Diocese of Auckland.