Josiah Alfred Hanan (12 May 1868 – 22 March 1954), known to his colleagues as Joe Hanan, was a New Zealand politician, cabinet minister, and legislative councillor. He also served as Mayor of Invercargill, and as

Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

of the

University of New Zealand A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

Early life

Hanan 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, and educated at Invercargill Central School (dux) and

Southland Boys' High School Southland Boys' High School (SBHS) is an all-boys school in Invercargill, New Zealand, and has been the only one in the city since Marist Brothers was merged with St Catherines to form Verdon College in 1982. History SBHS was founded in 1881, ...

. He was a civil and criminal lawyer 1889–1899 with a good reputation, defending Minnie Dean and John Keown on murder charges.

Political career

He entered politics in 1894, when he became a borough councillor. In 1896, he was elected Mayor of Invercargill (the youngest, and the first NZ-born). In

1899 Events January * January 1 ** Spanish rule formally ends in Cuba with the cession of Spanish sovereignty to the U.S., concluding 400 years of the Spanish Empire in the Americas.''The American Monthly Review of Reviews'' (February 1899), p ...

he was elected as the member of the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

for the Invercargill electorate. He held the electorate for the next 26 years, and retired at the 1925 election. In 1912 he was appointed

Minister of Education An education minister (sometimes minister of education) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with educational matters. Where known, the government department, ministry, or agency that develops policy and deli ...

Minister 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 ...

, and Minister of Stamp Duties in the short lived cabinet of Thomas Mackenzie. He also served in the wartime National Ministry, holding the portfolios of education (1915–1919), justice (1917), and immigration (1915). On his retirement from the House in 1925 he was appointed as a Member of 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 ...

, a position he held until its abolition in 1950. From 1932 to 1939, he was Chairman of Committees. Hanan was better known to his colleagues as Joe.

Family and death

Hanan married Abigail Susan Graham in 1896, but she died in 1898. Then he married Susanna Murray and they had two sons. The family would commute to Wellington for the parliamentary sessions and their boys attended boarding school there. When Hanan retired from Parliament in 1925, they moved to

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

, where by then their boys were attending

university A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

. His brother James Albert Hanan had a son,

Ralph Hanan Josiah Ralph Hanan (13 June 1909 – 24 July 1969), known as Ralph Hanan, was a New Zealand politician of the National Party. He was Mayor of Invercargill and then represented the electorate in Parliament, following in his uncle Josiah Hanan ...

, who would later become Mayor of Invercargill and represented the Invercargill electorate in Parliament, where he held several cabinet posts. Josiah Hanan died in

on 22 March 1954, where he was

cremated Cremation is a method of Disposal of human corpses, final disposition of a corpse through Combustion, burning. Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial. In some countries, including India, Nepal, and ...

. He was survived by his sons and his wife. Susanna Hanan died on 12 February 1970 in Dunedin and her ashes were scattered.

Notes

References

* * * , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Hanan, Josiah Alfred 1868 births 1954 deaths People educated at Southland Boys' High School Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives Members of the Cabinet of New Zealand Members of the New Zealand Legislative Council 19th-century New Zealand lawyers New Zealand Liberal Party MPs Invercargill City Councillors Mayors of Invercargill Ministers of education of New Zealand New Zealand MPs for South Island electorates 19th-century New Zealand politicians Ministers of justice of New Zealand