William Pember Reeves

For other people named William Reeves, see William Reeves (disambiguation).

The Honourable William Pember Reeves
Portrait of William Pember Reeves possibly taken when he was elected to be a member of parliament in 1887
5th High Commissioner to the United Kingdom
In office December 1896 – December 1908
Monarchs	Victoria Edward VII
Prime Minister	Richard Seddon
Preceded by	Westby Perceval
Succeeded by	William Hall-Jones
1st Minister of Labour
In office 31 May 1892 – 10 January 1896
Prime Minister	John Ballance Richard Seddon
Succeeded by	Richard Seddon
9th Minister of Education
In office 24 January 1891 – 10 January 1896
Prime Minister	John Ballance Richard Seddon
Preceded by	Thomas William Hislop
Succeeded by	William Campbell Walker
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for City of Christchurch
In office 5 December 1890 – 13 February 1896
Preceded by	Constituency recreated
Succeeded by	Charles Lewis
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for St Albans
In office 26 September 1887 – 5 December 1890
Preceded by	Francis James Garrick
Succeeded by	Constituency abolished
Personal details
Born	(1857-02-10)10 February 1857 Lyttelton, New Zealand
Died	16 May 1932(1932-05-16) (aged 75) London, England
Political party	Liberal
Spouse	Magdalen Stuart Robison
Children	3, including Amber Reeves
Parent(s)	William Reeves (father) Ellen Pember (mother)
Occupation	Lawyer and journalist
Cricket information
Role	Batsman
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1879/80–1887/88	Canterbury
Career statistics
Competition First-class Matches 5 Runs scored 188 Batting average 20.88 100s/50s 0/1 Top score 54 Catches/stumpings 1/0
Source: ESPN Cricinfo, 22 November 2020

William Pember Reeves (10 February 1857 – 16 May 1932) was a New Zealand politician, cricketer, historian and poet who promoted social reform.

Early life and career

Reeves's parents were William Reeves, who was a journalist and politician, and Ellen Reeves, née Pember. They had migrated from Britain to Canterbury Province in 1857, arriving three weeks before he was born.

He was educated at a private prep school in Christchurch, the local high school and, from 1867 to 1874, Christ's College Grammar School. Before entering politics, Reeves was a lawyer and journalist. He was editor of the Canterbury Times in 1885 and the Lyttelton Times (1889–1891).

Cricket

Reeves played in five first-class cricket matches for Canterbury from 1879 to 1888. A batsman, his highest score was 54, Canterbury's top score in the match, when Canterbury beat Otago by four runs in February 1883. In his last first-class match, played in January 1888 while he was a Member of Parliament, he top-scored for Canterbury with 31 in the second innings.

Reeves was described as "a steady, thoughtful batsman, a hard man to get out". But he was erratic in his judgement of when to run, a failing he commemorated in one of his poems, "No Judge of a Run: A Lament of Cricket".

Political career

New Zealand Parliament

Years	Term	Electorate		Party
1887–1890	10th	St Albans			Independent
1890–1893	11th	Christchurch			Liberal
1893–1896	12th	Christchurch			Liberal

Reeves represented the Christchurch electorate of St Albans in Parliament from 1887 to 1890, and then Christchurch from 1890 to 1896, when he resigned to take up the post of Agent General. During the premierships of John Ballance (1891–93) and Richard Seddon (1893–1906) he served as Minister of Labour (1892–96), Minister of Education (1891–96), Minister of Justice (1891–92, 1893, 1895–96) and Commissioner of Stamp Duties (1892–96). As Minister of Labour he introduced the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act 1894 and the Undesirable Immigrants Exclusion Bill, which, if it had been passed, would have barred poor and Asian immigrants from the country. His opposition to the entry of those he considered "undesirable" immigrants earned him the nickname "Undesirable Bill" Reeves.

In London

In January 1896 Reeves left New Zealand for London, where he was Agent General (1896–1905) and High Commissioner (1905–08). While he was in Britain Reeves became a friend of a number of left-wing intellectuals, such as George Bernard Shaw, H. G. Wells, and Sidney and Beatrice Webb, all leading members of the Fabian Society. He was also a member of the Coefficients dining club of social reformers.

William Pember Reeves in 1925

Reeves became Director of the London School of Economics (1908–19) and President of the Anglo-Hellenic League (1913–25). He also headed the committee organising the First Universal Races Congress in London in 1911. Finally, he was chairman of the board of the National Bank of New Zealand from 1917 to 1931.

Reeves's more influential writings include his history of New Zealand, The Long White Cloud (1898) and State Experiments in Australia and New Zealand (1902). He also published a number of poems, such as "The Passing of the Forest" and "A Colonist in his Garden".

Reeves married Magdalen Stuart Robison in 1885. She was a feminist who later joined the Fabian Society. They had two daughters, the feminist writer Amber Reeves (born 1887) and Beryl (born 1889), and one son, Fabian Pember Reeves (1895–1917), who was killed in the First World War, aged 21, as a Flight Lieutenant in the RNAS.

Reeves three times declined offers of a knighthood.

Works

• Some Historical Articles on Communism and Socialism: Their Dreams, their Experiments, their Aims, their Influence. Christchurch: The Lyttelton Times Office. 1890.
• The State and Its Functions in New Zealand. London: The Fabian Society. 1896.
• The Long White Cloud: Aotearoa. London: Horace Marshall & Son. 1898.
• State Experiments in Australia & New Zealand. London: Grant Richards. 1902.
• "New Zealand To-day" . The Empire and the century. London: John Murray. 1905. pp. 462–77.

See also

• List of Canterbury representative cricketers

References

• Hamer, David A. (1988). The New Zealand Liberals: The Years of Power, 1891–1912. Auckland: Auckland University Press. ISBN 1-86940-014-3. OCLC 18420103.
• Sinclair, Keith (1965). William Pember Reeves: New Zealand Fabian. Auckland: Oxford University Press. OCLC 804267.
• Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.

External links

• William Pember Reeves at ESPNcricinfo
• Biography in the 1966 Encyclopaedia of New Zealand
• Works by William Pember Reeves at Project Gutenberg
• Works by or about William Pember Reeves at the Internet Archive
• The Long White Cloud at Project Gutenberg, or at the New Zealand Electronic Text Centre
• "The Passing of the Forest" at the New Zealand Electronic Text Centre