John Bitchener OBE (1864 –10 March 1952) was a Reform Party Member of Parliament in New Zealand. He was a cabinet minister from 1933 to 1935 in the Reform Government of New Zealand.
Bitchener was born in 1864 in Stagsden,Bedfordshire,England. [1] His father was Alfred Bitchener,who was born in 1844 in Cranfield,Bedfordshire,England. [2] His mother was Mary Ann Bitchener (née Welch),and his parents had married on 9 February 1864. John Bitchener had two younger sisters. After his wife's death,Alfred Bitchener decided to emigrate to New Zealand together with his sister Anne,who had married a brother of his late wife. The Bitchener and Welch families arrived in Lyttelton Harbour in January 1875 on the Lady Jocelyn [3] and the Welchs had two infants at the time. [4]
Alfred Bitchener moved to the Waimate District and worked as a farm labourer for three or four years,and then became a saw milling contractor. [2] John Bitchener received his education at Waimate Public School and then joined his father as a contractor in Waimate,before moving to Southland for four years. [1] His father bought a farm in Hook,some 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) southwest of Waimate,and John Bitchener moved to live there,too. [2]
Years | Term | Electorate | Party | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1919 –1922 | 20th | Waitaki | Reform | ||
1922 –1925 | 21st | Waitaki | Reform | ||
1925 –1928 | 22nd | Waitaki | Reform | ||
1928 –1931 | 23rd | Waitaki | Reform | ||
1931 –1935 | 24th | Waitaki | Reform |
Like his father, [2] John Bitchener joined many organisations and took leading roles. [1] He was chairman of the Hook School Committee,he was a member of the Waimate County Council for eleven years,was a member of the Timaru Boys' High School Board including chairman for some time,was a member of the Timaru Harbour Board,was on the Waimate High School Board,and was president of the South Canterbury Farmers' Union. He was a member of the Advisory Board of the Farmers' Union in Wellington,was chairman of the Waimate Cooperative Flour Milling Company,and a director of the Canterbury Farmers' Cooperative Association. [1]
He was elected as Member of Parliament for Waitaki in the 1919 general election,but was defeated in 1935. [5] He was Minister of Works under George Forbes from 10 April 1933 to 6 December 1935,when the Coalition Government was defeated. [6]
In 1935,he was awarded the King George V Silver Jubilee Medal. [7] In the 1950 New Year Honours,Bitchener was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for public and municipal services. [8]
While living in Southland,Bitchener married Mary Laughton from Scotland in Invercargill in 1887. Their son was John Alfred Bitchener. [9] They had a daughter,Jessie Laughton Bitchener,who died on 6 December 1895 at age four. [10] Another daughter,Eva Laughton Bitchener,lived until old age and died in 1985 aged 89. [10] His father,Alfred Bitchener,died suddenly in January 1918 at Waimate. [11] His wife,Mary,died on 17 August 1946. [10] John Bitchener died on 10 March 1952. [10] Apart from John Alfred Bitchener,all of these are buried in the Bitchener family grave at Old Waimate Cemetery. [10]