THE HON. F. A. WHITAKER KNIGHTED.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXI, Issue 6930, 2 February 1884, Page 5

THE HON. F. A. WHITAKER KNIGHTED.

_ <K London, January 31. The Hon. F. A. Whitaker, ex-Premier of New Zealand, has been -made Knight Commander of the Order,of St. Miehael and St. George. THE SEW KNIGHT. The Hon. Frederick A. Whitaker, on whom Her Majesty has conferred the honour of knighthood, is amonc; the most prominent and 'capable of colonial statesmen. For nearly half-a-century he has been identified with the public life of New Zealand, and few have played a more distinguished part in assisting to lay out and broaden the foundations of its institutions. The new knight cornea of an old county family in Oxfordshire, his brother having been a magistrate and deputy-lieutenant of the county. In early life he received a legal education, and early in 1839 was admitted to practice in tho English Courts, and towards the close of the same year left for Australia, landing in Sydney iu 1840. All eyes were then turned to the young colony of New Zealand, which had just been brought under British sovereignty, and among the many active, ambitious, and adventurous young men who found their way to its then seat of Government, Kororareka, was Mr. Whitaker. There he took ap his abode, and entered on the practice, of his profession, which he continued till the removal of the seat of Government to Auckland in 1841, when he came with it, as one of the first settlers, remaining as a resident ever since, with the exception of a vißit to England in 1846. In the year 1542 he waa appointed County Judge—a Court with civil and criminal jurisdiction, like our present" District Courts —and continued to hold that appointment until too abolition of the office in 1844. In the following year he was made senior non-official member of the Legislative Council, and sat in the last Council held by Governor Fitzroy, and the first held by his successor, Governor Grey. The Northern insurrection breaking out, Mr. Whitaker served in the New Zealand Militia, in which force he held a major's commission, and was engaged in garrison duty in Auckland, when the rebel Northern natives threatened to come down by the Whau portage, at the head waters of the Waitemata, to lay the infant settlement in ashes. Mr. Whitaker, at this period, entered into partnership with Captain Heole, and the new firm entered into a number of speculations to develop the mineral resources of the province, the most important of which were their operations in copper mining at Kawau, and at the Great Barrier. In 1546 Mr. Whitaker paid a visit to England, and returned to the colony in IS4S. In the year 1851 the Provincial Legislative Council was established, and, by its constitution, one-third of its members were nominated, and the remaining twothirds elected. The representatives elected for Auckland city were Mr. Whitaker, Mr. W. Brown (of the firm of Brown and Campboll), and the late Captain Salmon. Tho passing of the New Zealand Constitution Act in 1552 by the English Parliament, and the inauguration of popular representative institutions in the colony in 1553 again brought Mr. Whitakor to the front of political life. He was elected a member of the Provincial Council, and sat in several sessions. During the superintendonoy of General Wyuyard, he acted as Provincial Law Adviser, and as a member of the Provincial Executive Council. In 1853, he was called, in company with the Hon. Mr. Swainson and Colonel Kenny, to the Legislative Council, and in the following year he attended the first session of the General Assembly as a member of the Legislative Council. He was appointed Attorney-General in 1855, and also Speaker of the Legislative Counoil. He resigned both those offices in 1856, when responsible government was established, and he accepted the Attorney-Generalship in the Ministry formed by Mr. (now Sir E.) Stuf. ford, which existed until IS6I. when it was defeated and retired. In 1802 the place of meeting of the Assembly was changed from Auckland to Wellington, and Mr. Whitaker resigned his seat- iu the Cabinet on that account. In 1563 the Waikato war commenced, and the session of the Assembly being held in Auckland, Mr. Whitaker was re-appointed to the Council, and on the resignation of the Ministry was appointed Premier and Attorney-General. At the end of 1,864, consequent upon serious disagreement with Governor Sir George Grey as to the conduct of the war, Mr. Whitaker and his colleagues resigned. The session of 1865 was again held at Wellington, and Mr. Whitaker resigned his seat in the Council. At the end of 1565 he was elected Superintendent of the Auckland Province, and soon after a member of the House of Representatives, but he resigned both offices during 1567. Remaining out of politics until 1876, he was then elected member for the Waikato. When Sir .Julius Vogel retired in that year Mr. Whitaker declined to take office, but ultimately he became Attorney-General in Major Atkinson's Ministry. When Sir John Hall took' office in 1879 he again accepted a seat in the Couucil and the Attorney-Generalship. On Sir J. Hall's retirement he became Premier, but after two sessions of the Assembly he resigned all his ministerial offices, on the ground that his private affairs necessitatedhis residence in Auckland. He retainß his seat in the Legislative Council. Last year he attended the Intercolonial Convention at Sydney as one of the New Zealand delegates, his colleague on that occasion being Major Atkinson. In 187S, when the North I»land of New Zealan d waß constituted a province under the Scottish Constitution of Freemasonry, Mr. Whitaker was unanimously selected as the first Provincial Grand Master, and duly appointed by the Grand Master of Scotland. Iu private life Mr. Whitaker is highly esteemed for his social and personal qualities. He has a numerous family of growc-up sons and daughters, and his eldest son is a member of the House of Representatives. Mr. Whitaker is head of the well known legal firm Whitaker and Russell.