NEW HIGH COMMISSIONER

Taranaki Daily News, 13 November 1929, Page 13

NEW HIGH COMMISSIONER

MR. T. WILFORD APPOINTED

DEPARTURE EARLY NEXT MONTH.

TAKES SIR JAMES PARR’S PLACE.

By Telegraph—Press Association. , Wellington, November 12. The Prime Minister announced to-day the appointment of the Hon. T. M. Wilford as High Commissioner for New Zealand in sucession to Sir James Parr, whose term of office will expire on December 31. Mr. Wilford will leave for England on December 7 in order to take up his duties in London;

The Hon. Thomas Mason Wilford, who is 59 years of age, has been a member of the House of Representatives since 1899. He is- the son of the late Dr. G. J. F. Wilford, a well-known practitioner in the earlier days of the Hutt Valley settlement, near Wellington. His mother, a Miss Mason, was a daughter of another family that took a prominent part in the settlement of the Hutt district, her father having established a garden of native and rare trees that was for many years one of the “show” spots of the Dominion.

In his young days a representative footballer, a good shot, a constant rider to hounds, and an angler of some reputation, there were few forms of sport in which Mr. Wilford did not show proficiency. He was a capable student, also, for he qualified as a solicitor, and was admitted to the Bar when he was just twenty-one years of age. The next year he married a daughter of the late. Sir George McLean, of Dunedin, and commenced the- career as a barrister that has brought him into touch with many of the more notorious criminal trials in this country. He was junior to the late Sir Charles Skerrett as defending counsel in the charges brought against some masters at the Stoke Orphanage School, not one of which was held to have been proved. In later years he defended Ellis, the Te Awhaite murderer, who was subsequently executed, and it is not too much to say that at one time he -was the most sought-after advocate in Wellington in criminal cases. For a good many years an irrepressible love of practical joking and.a general inclination to larrikinism prevented his talents from being fully recognised, and for long after he entered Parliament, although the one constituency remained loyal to him throughout his career, there were those even among his supporters who had not much reliance in his future As a youngster of 23 he unsuccessfully contested the Wellington Suburbs seat against Dr. Newman, one of the stalwarts of the (then) Conservative party, and three years later, Dr. Newman having retired, Mr. Wilford defeated the Hon. T. W. Hislop, who was the Conservative candidate. He was unseated on petition, however, and it was not until the 1899 election-that he began the membership of the House of Representatives that has since been unbroken.

ELECTION TO HUTT SEAT. First elected for Wellington Suburbs, his -constituency became the Hutt electorate in 1903, and though challenged by strong opponents, Mr. Wilford has always held his own. At the election in 1925 he was a very sick man, and was away on a health recruiting trip while the contest was proceeding. The Reform Party in the Hutt electorate were chivalrous enough not to oppose him, and at last election he had a substantial majority. After one or two unsuccessful attempts, he . was elected Mayor of Wellington, and as such showed an administrative capacity that surprised a good many Largesses who doubted his ability to handle municipal affairs. For ten years a Government nominee on the Wellington Harbour Board, he was elected its chairman in 1908-9, and again proved himself an excellent organiser and a tactful leader of a body in which many-conflicting interests were represented. In Parliament Mr. Wilford’s ability also began to be better realised.. He was made Chairman of Committees, and Deputy-Speaker, and filled the position with satisfaction to- all sections of the House. When the National Government was formed during the war da/s Mr. Wilford became Minister of Justice and Marine. He displayed ability and resource in this capacity/and when the defeat of the Liberal Party after the war included the temporary disappearance of Sit Joseph Ward from Parliament, Mr. Wilford was chosen leader of the party. In 1925 it went to the polls as the Nationalist party, but was badly defeated, the Labour Party becoming the official Opposition. In 1928 the Nationalist became the United-Party, under the leadership of Sir Joseph Ward, and obtained office. In the present Ministry Mr. Wilford has held the portfolios of Justice, Defence, Police, Prisons and War Pensions. During his leader’s absence owing to ill-health, a good many of the duties of the Prime Minister devolved upon Mr. Wilford, and it is generally agreed that he considerably enhanced his reputation as a Minister in the session that has just closed. Mr. Wilford remarked to a reporter that there had been only two ambitions in his life, and one, which he conceived as a boy, was to become a K.C. That was fulfilled some days ago. The other, which he conceived in 1903, when first visited England, was to become New Zealand’s representative at Home. “I have them both now, so I ought to be happy,” he added. ,