MACGREGOR, JOHN (1850-1936) was born in Aberfeldy, Perthshire, where he received his primary education. He then went to Edinburgh University, graduating M.A. (1874). A brother of Dr Duncan Macgregor (q.v.), he was also intended for medicine, but was attracted to law, and on arriving in Dunedin (1875) he entered the office of Robert Stout (q.v.), whose sister Jessie (d. 1890), the daughter of Thomas Stout, of Lerwick, Shetland, he married in 1878. He was admitted to the bar in 1877, and after a few months in Timaru he practised in Dunedin (in partnership with Peter Duncan) until his retirement in 1927.

Macgregor was a very capable lawyer, especially in constitutional law, and a man of deep culture and Liberal opinions. He was particularly interested in education, and was a member of the Otago education board for 12 years and chairman for two years. He wrote frequently to the press well-considered articles on industrial relations and on social matters generally (notably on the population question). He was called to the Legislative Council in 1892, but before the expiration of his term he gave it to be understood that he would not accept reappointment, as he believed that some criticism by a member of the cabinet of his action in Parliament suggested that it was his duty to vote for the party which appointed him. He was called again by the Reform Government in 1914, and reappointed for two subsequent terms, retiring in 1935.

In Parliament Macgregor devoted much attention to reform in social laws. He was responsible for the legitimation act, which provided that a father, by marrying the mother of his illegitimate children, could thereby legitimise them. The divorce law he had amended to equalise the position of husband and wife and to add desertion, failure to maintain, and habitual drunkenness to the grounds of dissolution. W. D. Stewart says Macgregor was an idealist with great force of character and an unusual mastery of legal principles and constitutional law. For many years he was a brilliant polemic writer on politics, with a profound knowledge of political philosophy. He was the first real critic of the system of compulsory arbitration.

Macgregor's principal pamphlets were: Money Bills (1895), Parliamentary Government in New Zealand (1896), Marriage and Divorce (1897), Liberalism True and False (1899) and Industrial Arbitration in New Zealand (1901). He died on 25 Nov 1936.

N.Z.P.D., pass. (notably 10 Sep 1937); Who's Who N.Z., 1908, 1924, 1932; Cycl. N.Z., iv; W. D. Stewart, Bell; Otago Daily Times, 17 Oct 1892, 18 Sep 1899, 26 Nov 1936 (p). Portrait: Parliament House.

Reference: Volume 2, page 11

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