John Wallace Ridley (29 April 1919 – 23 August 2006) was a New Zealand Member of Parliament for in the

North Island The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...

, a

Rhodes Scholar The Rhodes Scholarship is an international Postgraduate education, postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford in Oxford, United Kingdom. The scholarship is open to people from all backgrounds around the world. Esta ...

and a

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing i ...

. He was notable for his contributions to

hydro Hydro (from ) may refer to: Energy technologies * Water-derived power or energy: ** Hydropower, derived from water ** Hydroelectricity, in electrical form * "Hydro", AC mains electricity in parts of Canada * Micro hydro, a type of hydroelect ...

engineering.

Early years

Ridley was born in

Invercargill Invercargill ( , ) is the southernmost and westernmost list of cities in New Zealand, city in New Zealand, and one of the Southernmost settlements, southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland Region, Southlan ...

, New Zealand in 1919. He attended

Timaru Boys' High School Timaru Boys' High School (also known as TBHS), established in 1880, is a single sex state (public) secondary school located in the port city of Timaru, South Canterbury, New Zealand. TBHS caters for years 9 to 13 (ages 12 to 19 years). At t ...

and then studied engineering at

Canterbury University College The University of Canterbury (UC; ; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was founded in 1873 as Canterbur ...

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

. After the Second World War (in which he served as an engineering officer) he spent two years, 1946–1947, as a

University College In a number of countries, a university college is a college institution that provides tertiary education but does not have full or independent university status. A university college is often part of a larger university. The precise usage varies f ...

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

, graduating with an MA (Honours) in engineering science. He married Avis (née Reed) in 1949. Ridley was a civil engineer of dams for power schemes like

Benmore Dam Benmore Dam is the largest dam within the Waitaki power scheme, located in the Canterbury Region of New Zealand's South Island. There are eight other power stations in the Waitaki Power Scheme. The dam is the largest earth-fill (zoned emban ...

in the

South Island The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...

and

Wairakei Wairakei is a small settlement and Geothermal activity, geothermal area 8-kilometres (5 mi) north of Taupō, in the centre of the North Island of New Zealand, on the Waikato River. It is part of the Taupō Volcanic Zone and features several nat ...

in the

, working for the

Ministry of Works and Development The New Zealand Ministry of Works and Development, formerly the Department of Public Works and often referred to as the Public Works Department or PWD, was founded in 1871 and disestablished and sold off in 1988. The Ministry had its own New Z ...

. For his contributions, he was awarded with the Fulton Gold Medal, at the time the highest award of the New Zealand Institution of Engineers.

Political career

Member of Parliament

Ridley was the MP for Taupo for six years from to 1975, and from to 1981. He was once asked why there were so few engineers in Parliament, to which he replied: "Because engineers are realists and politicians are idealists." In 1975 his wife Avis unsuccessfully sought the Labour Party candidacy for the electorate alongside 26 other aspirants following the retirement of

Hugh Watt Hugh Watt (19 March 1912 – 4 February 1980) was a New Zealand politician who was a Labour member of Parliament and the acting prime minister of New Zealand between 31 August and 6 September 1974, following the death of Prime Minister Norma ...

, but she lost to Frank Rogers.

Independent

In October 1983 Ridley contested the Labour nomination for the new

Tongariro Mount Tongariro (; ) is a complex volcano, compound volcano in the Taupō Volcanic Zone of the North Island of New Zealand. It is located to the southwest of Lake Taupō, and is the northernmost of the three active volcanoes that dominate the ...

electorate but was unsuccessful, losing to Noel Scott. Ridley disputed the selection process afterwards, claiming that the procedure had been manipulated by the party hierarchy who were determined to select Scott and estimating that he won 250 of the 350 floor votes from the members opposed to less than 20 for Scott. The party president,

Jim Anderton James Patrick Anderton (born Byrne; 21 January 1938 – 7 January 2018) was a New Zealand politician who led a succession of Left-wing politics, left-wing parties after leaving the New Zealand Labour Party, Labour Party in 1989. Anderton's pol ...

, refuted Ridley's claims stating that Labour's selection processes were democratically sound and the decision was final. In the Ridley stood for the Tongariro electorate as an

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

but was not successful. A large proportion of the Tongariro electorate had been part of Taupo. The city of Taupo itself however had become part of Waikaremoana.

Death

Ridley died in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

on 23 August 2006. He was survived by his wife and four sons.

Honours and awards

In 1990, Ridley was awarded the

New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal The New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal was a commemorative medal awarded in New Zealand in 1990 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, and was awarded to 3,632 people. Background The New Zealand 1990 Com ...

. In the

1998 Queen's Birthday Honours Queen's Birthday Honours are announced on or around the date of the Queen's Official Birthday in the United Kingdom and some Commonwealth countries. The dates vary, both from year to year and from country to country. All are published in suppleme ...

, he was appointed a

Companion of the Queen's Service Order The King's Service Order () established by royal warrant (document), royal warrant of Queen regnant, Queen Elizabeth II on 13 March 1975, is used to recognise "valuable voluntary service to the community or meritorious and faithful services to t ...

for public services.

Publications

Notes

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ridley, J. W. 1919 births 2006 deaths New Zealand Labour Party MPs Companions of the Queen's Service Order New Zealand Rhodes Scholars University of Canterbury alumni People educated at Timaru Boys' High School New Zealand civil engineers New Zealand military personnel of World War II People from Invercargill Unsuccessful candidates in the 1981 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1984 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1975 New Zealand general election Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand MPs for North Island electorates