Cecil Henry "Matt" Benney (6 July 1902–12 December 1980) was a New Zealand civil servant and politician.

Biography

Early life

Benney was born at Kaumati in the Hauraki district in 1902. He came from a family closely associated with mining, his father was the manager of the Golden Dawn Mining Company in

Waihi Waihi is a town in Hauraki District in the North Island of New Zealand, especially notable for its history as a gold mine town. The town is at the foot of the Coromandel Peninsula, close to the western end of the Bay of Plenty. The nearby res ...

, and his grandfather was also in charge of gold mines in Hauraki. He was educated at Komata School and then

Thames High School Thames High School is a public high school in Thames, Waikato, New Zealand. Established in 1880, it is the second-oldest secondary school in the former Auckland Province. Academics At all grade levels, Māori language courses are offered, with e ...

winning a university scholarship. He married Phyllis Marjorie Jenkins in 1928 with whom he had one son,

David David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Dam ...

, who went on to become a groundbreaking mathematician.

Public career

He joined the civil service in 1919 gaining employment at the Wellington offices of the Mines Department. In 1926 he finished his professional accountancy examinations at

Wellington Technical College Wellington High School is a co-educational secondary school in the CBD of Wellington, New Zealand. It has a role of approximately 1600 students. It was founded in 1886 as the Wellington College of Design (later the Wellington Technical School), ...

. In 1930 he left the Mines Department and joined the

Ministry of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

where he was appointed as an accountant until 1937 when he returned to the Mines Department also as an accountant. In 1940 he was appointed Under-secretary for Mines in succession to Arthur Tyndall, who had been appointed as a judge of the Arbitration Court. At 38 years of age, he was thought to have been the youngest person ever to hold the position of head of a department of state in New Zealand. He held the position until 1959 when he retired. In 1953, he was awarded the

Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal The Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal () is a commemorative medal instituted to celebrate the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II on 2 June 1953. Award This medal was awarded as a personal souvenir from the Queen to members of the Royal Family ...

. In the

1959 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours 1959 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The appointments were made to celebrate ...

he was made a member of the

Imperial Service Order The Imperial Service Order was established by King Edward VII in August 1902. It was awarded on retirement to the administration and clerical staff of the Civil Service throughout the British Empire for long and meritorious service. Normally a pe ...

for his services to the civil service. Benney was also involved in the

Public Service Association The Public Service Association (), or PSA, is a democratic trade union with over workers in the New Zealand public sector. The stated aims of the PSA are to provide support for public and not-for-profit community services, support worker voic ...

(PSA). He was chairman of the Wellington section, a member of the executive (1938-39), and vice-president of the PSA (1939-40), and has also served on a large number of special committees in the public service. In 1955 he became President of the Civil Service Institute.

Political career

Benney was elected, on the Citizens' Association ticket, to the

Wellington City Council Wellington City Council is a Territorial authorities of New Zealand, territorial authority in New Zealand, governing the city of Wellington, the country's capital city and List of cities in New Zealand#City councils, third-largest city by popul ...

1962 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...

remaining a member until 1966 when he resigned citing a possible conflict of interests which may arise following his appointment as Executive Director of the Wellington Gas Company. Given his wealth of experience in the mining industry he was immediately appointed to the highly demanding role of chairman of the works committee, which he held throughout his tenure on the council. He was involved in a public selection controversy in

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The First Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lynd ...

, when he was chosen as the Citizens' nominee for the mayoralty by the association's executive (a position not normally considered for a first-term councillor). Despite initially accepting, Benney withdrew his nomination after it became clear to him that the majority of sitting Citizens' councillors instead favoured deputy mayor Denis McGrath. When Benney made clear his withdrawal, McGrath declined to stand for mayor, offering himself only for the council. As the deadline for nominations neared a deputation of over 50 businessmen and Citizens' candidates asked Benney to again accept both the nomination to which he agreed. Benney was officially nominated as the mayoral candidate, after which McGrath relented the role of deputy mayor to Benney as well. At the election, Benney increased the Citizens' share of the vote and slightly decreased incumbent mayor

Frank Kitts Sir Francis Joseph Kitts (1 May 1912 – 16 March 1979) was a New Zealand politician. Originally from the South Island, he served in the military and later was a civil servant before entering politics with the Labour Party. He was the Member o ...

' majority, but was nonetheless defeated soundly. He was still elected to the council (polling higher than any other Citizens' candidate) and remained deputy mayor until his resignation from the council in 1966. The council decided to neither hold a by-election or make an appointment to fill Benney's vacated seat leaving the council with only 14 members for just over a year. He then became president of the Wellington Horticultural Society from 1966 to 1967.

Later life and death

Following the commencement of his employment with the Wellington Gas Company he was elected as chairman of the Gas Association of New Zealand from 1969 to 1970. In November 1966 Benney was appointed by the government as arbiter in a strike by tug boat engineers. He was later appointed by the government as chairman of a committee of inquiry into New Zealand's taxi and rental car industry. Benney died 12 December 1980 in Wellington.

Honorific eponym

The former coal mining town of Benneydale, located in the

King Country The King Country ( Māori: ''Te Rohe Pōtae'' or ''Rohe Pōtae o Maniapoto'') is a region of the western North Island of New Zealand. It extends approximately from Kawhia Harbour and the town of Ōtorohanga in the north to the upper reaches of th ...

, was jointly named after him in recognition of his services to the locality and mining industry.

Notes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Benney, Matt 1902 births 1980 deaths People educated at Thames High School New Zealand accountants New Zealand public servants New Zealand businesspeople Deputy mayors of Wellington Wellington City Councillors 20th-century New Zealand politicians