John Blair Whyte (1840 – 21 July 1914) was a Member of Parliament and Mayor in the

Waikato The Waikato () is a region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipā District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton City, as well as Hauraki, Coromandel Peninsula, the nort ...

region of New Zealand.

Political career

Whyte began his political career in 1877, when he became a member of the first Waikato County Council. Subsequently, he was the mayor of Hamilton from December 1878 to December 1879, when he resigned. In September 1879, Whyte was elected to the

New Zealand Parliament The New Zealand Parliament () is the unicameral legislature of New Zealand, consisting of the Monarchy of New Zealand, Sovereign and the New Zealand House of Representatives. The King is usually represented by his Governor-General of New Zeal ...

, where he represented

. When he was elected, he claimed to be politically independent and supportive of the liberal policies of

George Grey Sir George Grey, KCB (14 April 1812 – 19 September 1898) was a British soldier, explorer, colonial administrator and writer. He served in a succession of governing positions: Governor of South Australia, twice Governor of New Zealand, Gov ...

and his Ministry, which was defeated in the same election. Whyte retired from parliament in October 1890. Subsequently, he was appointed to the

Legislative Council A legislative council is the legislature, or one of the legislative chambers, of a nation, colony, or subnational division such as a province or state. It was commonly used to label unicameral or upper house legislative bodies in the Brit ...

on 22 January 1891 by the outgoing ministry of

Harry Atkinson Sir Harry Albert Atkinson (1 November 1831 – 28 June 1892) served as the tenth Prime Minister of New Zealand, premier of New Zealand on four separate occasions in the late 19th century, and was Minister of Finance (New Zealand), Colonial Tr ...

, one of seven such appointments (which included Atkinson himself). These appointments were seen by Liberals as a stacking of the upper house against the new government. He served in that role until 1897, when he resigned on account of his decision to move to England. After his resignation from the Legislative Council, Whyte advised the

Bank of New Zealand Bank of New Zealand (BNZ) is one of New Zealand's Big Four (banking)#New Zealand, big four banks. It has been operating since October 1861, and since 1992 has been owned by National Australia Bank (NAB), retaining local governance with a New Z ...

on land values, and moved to England on matters relating to banking. Later, he moved to

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 ...

, where he reported on gold-mining in the region on behalf of an English gold syndicate, before returning to England, where he died on 21 July 1914.

Personal life

Beginning in 1868, Whyte was a farmer, and owned land at Tuhuroa and Tuhikaramea, as well as a farm near Hamilton, which later became the Waikato Diocesan School. During the 1870s, Whyte began to sub-divide and sell his land, selling the last of his Tuhikaramea land by August 1882. In 1874, Whyte married Annie MacGregor Hay. The couple had at least three children, one of whom was Kenneth Whyte, who was born in 1882 and died in March 1884 in Hamilton.

References

1840 births 1914 deaths Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives Members of the New Zealand Legislative Council Mayors of Hamilton, New Zealand New Zealand MPs for North Island electorates 19th-century New Zealand politicians {{NewZealand-mayor-stub