Herbert Elmer Lorraine Pickering (29 March 1919 – 25 July 2009) was a New Zealand politician of the

National Party National Party or Nationalist Party may refer to: Active parties * National Party of Australia, commonly known as ''The Nationals'' * Bangladesh: ** Bangladesh Nationalist Party ** Jatiya Party (Ershad) a.k.a. ''National Party (Ershad)'' * Californ ...

, and was a cabinet minister.

Biography

Pickering was born in Havelock in 1919, the son of Charles Henry Pickering. He received his education from

Marlborough College Marlborough College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English private boarding school) for pupils aged 13 to 18 in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England. It was founded as Marlborough School in 1843 by the Dean of Manchester, George ...

, Christchurch Teachers' College, and the

University of Canterbury 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 ...

. During World War II, he was a flying instructor for the

RNZAF The Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF; ) is the aerial service branch of the New Zealand Defence Force. It was formed initially in 1923 as a branch of the New Zealand Army, being known as the New Zealand Permanent Air Force, becoming an in ...

. After the war, he worked for the New Zealand Broadcasting School. In 1941, Pickering married Margaret Priscilla McKenzie, the daughter of Donald Seaforth McKenzie; they were to have two sons and one daughter. He contested the electorate for National in ; then, following the death of William Gillespie, he contested the electorate in the and was elected. The Hurunui electorate was abolished in 1963, and Pickering successfully contested the Rangiora electorate instead, which he represented until his retirement due to ill-health in 1972. In 1961 he was one of ten National MPs to vote with the Opposition and remove

capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence (law), sentence ordering that an offender b ...

for murder from the Crimes Bill that the Second National Government had introduced. In 1969, he was appointed to the Executive Council by

Keith Holyoake Sir Keith Jacka Holyoake (11 February 1904 – 8 December 1983) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 26th prime minister of New Zealand, serving for a brief period in 1957 and then from 1960 to 1972, and also as the 13th governor-g ...

(unusually, he was not also a cabinet minister) and served until 1972. He was

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 ...

in the Second National Government under

Jack Marshall Sir John Ross Marshall New Zealand Army Orders 1952/405 (5 March 1912 – 30 August 1988) was a New Zealand politician of the National Party. He entered Parliament in 1946 and was first promoted to Cabinet in 1951. After spending twelve years ...

, from 9 February to 8 December 1972. In the

1993 Queen's Birthday Honours The 1993 Queen's Birthday honours were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as part of the Queen's b ...

, Pickering 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. Pickering died on 25 July 2009.

Notes

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pickering, Herbert 1919 births 2009 deaths New Zealand National Party MPs Members of the Cabinet of New Zealand Ministers of education of New Zealand Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand MPs for South Island electorates Unsuccessful candidates in the 1960 New Zealand general election People educated at Marlborough Boys' College University of Canterbury alumni New Zealand military personnel of World War II Royal New Zealand Air Force personnel Companions of the Queen's Service Order People from Havelock, New Zealand New Zealand justices of the peace