HALL, SIR JOHN (1824-1907) was born at Hull, the son of Captain George Hall, of Elloughton, Yorkshire, a mariner-shipowner and elder brother of Trinity House, Hull. To the age of 10 years he was at school in Hull, and the next six years he spent in Germany, France and Switzerland, acquiring some knowledge of Latin and a useful facility in French and German. At the age of 16 he entered the office of a London merchant, and in 1845 he joined the Post Office, where he became private secretary to the permanent head. He was commissioned to visit Europe to investigate a proposal to carry mails from India by way of Trieste instead of through France. The proposal was dropped as being impracticable.

Hall was selected as chief postmaster at Brighton, with a salary of £600 a year; but royal patronage gave the post to another officer and he left the service. He became interested in the Canterbury scheme, and, reading Weld's Hints to Intending Sheepfarmers in New Zealand, he decided to emigrate, and sailed for New Zealand in the Samarang. While in London, Hall was a member of the Honourable Artillery Company, and won a medal for rifle shooting. During the Chartist disturbances of 1848 he did service as a special constable. Landing in Canterbury in 1852, he engaged a Maori guide and rode far south. He also visited the North Island, riding through Wairarapa and Hawkes Bay, and eventually decided that the best place was south of the Rakaia, where the only white settlers were the Rhodes brothers. He acquired a large canoe to ferry his stock and goods across the Rakaia and to use afterwards in a regular service for the benefit of settlers. The first crossing was so discouraging that he abandoned the ferry and settled on the north side of the river, buying Stoddart's run and stock.

Hall was clearly marked out by his experience for public life, and at the elections of 1853 was returned to represent Christchurch Country district in the Provincial Council. From that time until the provinces came to an end he was continuously a member of the Council, except when absent in England. He was instrumental in getting the ordinance passed which established the Church of England trustees for the province and helped to pass the ordinance to combat scab. In Oct 1854, he was appointed provincial secretary, and he was head of the government until May 1855. He was elected for Heathcote in 1857. At the end of 1855 he was elected to represent the Country District in Parliament, where he accepted the office of Colonial Secretary in the Fox ministry (1856). In Nov he was appointed resident magistrate for Lyttelton, sheriff, and commissioner of police, and early in 1857 he became a magistrate and justice of the peace for the colony. In Dec 1858 he was magistrate for Christchurch. In 1859 he sought respite by a visit to England. There he spent three years and married (1861) Rose Anne (d. 1900), daughter of William Dryden, of Hull.

In Feb 1862 the Christchurch town council was called into being. Hall presided at the meeting of burgesses, was elected at the head of the poll and in the following month he was elected chairman. In 1863 he was re-elected under the new ordinance. The most urgent work facing the board, the construction of Cashel street, was carried out by an old-fashioned working-bee of householders, amongst whom Hall plied pick and shovel. He resigned the mayoralty in Jun 1863, and in Jul he was called to the Legislative Council. In Dec 1863 he returned to the Provincial Council, in which he represented Mount Cook until 1866, when he became member for Rakaia. In 1864 he became secretary for public works in the Tancred executive. Businesslike, prudent and methodical, he was just the man for the emergency which occurred in 1865, when gold was discovered in Westland. Communication with the other side of the mountains was a matter of vital concern, and Hall started off at once with the provincial engineer (Dobson) to examine possible routes. Satisfied with Arthur's Pass, he authorised Dobson to put all available men to work to open out the road. In Jun 1865 he was appointed commissioner of crown lands. Early in 1866 the executive resigned, and Hall had more time for colonial politics. In Feb he resigned his seat in the Legislative Council and contested the Heathcote seat in the House of Representatives (defeating Buckley). In May he became a member for Rakaia in the Provincial Council, and in Aug he was appointed Postmaster-general in the Stafford ministry. During the three years that he held this office, Hall retained the confidence of his constituents, though they passed resolutions disapproving of the policy of the Government as a whole. Once more ill-health compelled him to resign his portfolio (Feb 1869), but he remained a member of Stafford's executive until the Government went out of office. In Oct 1867 he attended the conference in Melbourne on ocean postal communications. Hall's interest in Westland continued, and in 1868 he presented to Parliament a numerously-signed petition for separation from Canterbury. He warmly espoused the rights of the mining region, and when it was enacted that Westland should be a separate county, he was sent over to inaugurate the new system of government. Taking office as chairman of the self-governing county, he administered affairs until the elections at the end of 1868. He had been a strong provincialist, but was convinced that the example of Westland would show that all the necessary powers of self-government could be provided under a county. He was a firm believer in decentralisation and had taken part in the formation of road boards in Canterbury, and been a member of several. At a later date he welcomed the establishment of counties throughout New Zealand, and was a member of the first Selwyn county council, and its chairman (1877-79). In provincial politics he headed an executive (Oct 1870-Aug 1871).

In 1872 Hall was persuaded to resign his seat in the lower house to strengthen the Fox Government in the Legislative Council. A few months later the ministry was defeated. Stafford held office for a month, and was succeeded by Waterhouse, who invited Hall to be Colonial Secretary. Unfortunately owing to his health he had to resign (Mar 1873), when Waterhouse also retired. Hall now withdrew from provincial politics for good and sailed for England. On his return he was for a week or two a member of the executive in Atkinson's ministry (1876). In 1879, having resigned from the Legislative Council, he won the Selwyn seat and became leader of the opposition, moved an amendment on which Grey was defeated, and was himself invited to form a ministry. He took office on 8 Oct 1879 (with Whitaker, Atkinson, Rolleston, Oliver, and Bryce as colleagues). His anxiety regarding his majority was set at rest by four Auckland members crossing the floor of the House.

Hall's cautious administration helped to bring order into the finances of the colony, of which Atkinson had charge, while his social policy satisfied for the time the yearnings of Liberals. Amendments of the electoral law which Grey had drafted were adopted by Hall. Triennial parliaments and universal suffrage became law and, with the support of Rolleston, Hall declared in favour of more speedy land settlement. "If there is any class in the community," he said, "which is opposed to the settlement of the land on liberal principles, with such a class we have no sympathy whatever." The pacification of the Maori was a difficult task. The Native Minister (Bryce) advocated a policy towards Te Whiti and Tohu which Hall could not at first approve. The pacific Rolleston also urged for patience. Early in 1881 Bryce resigned, and Rolleston administered the department. A few months later, however, the situation appeared to the cabinet so menacing that Hall was converted to Bryce's views; Bryce resumed his place in the cabinet, and a display of force was decided upon. Though the coup at Parihaka (Nov 1881) was carried through without bloodshed, Hall was severely criticised. He incurred more odium for the arrest of Te Whiti and Tohu than credit for setting up a commission to investigate native grievances. While the proceedings at Parihaka were still incomplete, the general election was held and Hall was accorded a vote of confidence. The burden of office, however, had made inroads upon his health, and in Apr 1882 he resigned the premiership to Whitaker. His knighthood was received a month or two later.

Gisborne says of Hall: "There is nothing especially striking in his character, but it is a combination of useful qualities ... He was always painstaking, accurate, conscientious, and intelligent. He is, perhaps, more an official than a statesman. His official aptitude was wonderful, and he looked on the transaction of departmental business as a labour of love ... He has moderation, judgment, and commonsense. He is not apt to rush into extremes; he is ever ready to retrace his steps, as far as practicable, when he has made a mistake ... All round, he has been one of the best public men in New Zealand." Hall resigned his seat in the House (Feb 1883). Four years later he appeared as member for Selwyn, with no further desire for office, but interested heart and soul in the liberalisation of the electoral laws. Women's franchise had been advocated in Parliament by Dr Wallis as early as 1877. During the electoral debates in 1879-81 Ballance pushed the matter to a division. In 1881 Wallis's bill passed its first reading, and in 1887 Vogel dropped his bill after it had passed its second reading by 41 votes to 22. In the session of 1888, Hall presented a great petition and gave notice to move that the franchise be granted to women. In Aug 1889, in moving a resolution in favour of the measure, he said: "We cannot afford to bid women stand aside from the work of the nation. We need all their spirit of duty, their patience, their knowledge in abating the sorrow, sin, and want that is around us." He was convinced, he added, that women were entitled to be placed on a perfect equality with men. The motion was carried by 37 votes to 11, and a fortnight later Hall's bill was read a first time. In 1891 he presented a petition with over 10,000 signatures, and his bill was read a second time by a majority of 25. The House resolved that the act should come into force before the next general election. To the dismay of supporters of the measure, the Legislative Council threw it out by 17 votes to 15. In 1892 Ballance's bill was lost on a disagreement between the houses. In 1893 Hall again presented a petition (with 31,872 signatures). On 9 Aug his female franchise bill passed its second reading almost unanimously. The Legislative Council bowed to the inevitable, but even then a minority petitioned the Governor not to assent. The bill became law on 9 Sep.

Hall retired from Parliament at the dissolution (Nov 1893). He had served in Parliament with slight intermissions for 40 years. He represented New Zealand abroad at the Paris exhibition (1889), and at the conference on federation (1890). He was fully convinced that federation would be a mistake; indeed "that the 1,200 miles between New Zealand and Australia were 1,200 reasons against such a union." Hall was a member of the first synod of the Church of England (1859), when the constitution was adopted. He served on various bodies, however humble-road boards, county councils, harbour boards, school committees-and was a governor of Canterbury College (1873-79). A member of the Leathersellers' Company of London, Hall was chosen master in 1905. As the first chairman of the Christchurch municipal council, he was called upon to be mayor at the time of the exhibition (1906). Failing health prevented him from taking his part, and he died on 25 Jun 1907. He left bequests amounting to £55,000, including £30,000 to establish a general charitable trust in Canterbury, £10,000 for the building of a church and vicarage at Hororata, and £10,000 to establish the Boys Gordon Hall in Christchurch.

N.Z.P.D., pass. (notably 27 Jun 1907); Canterbury P.C. Proc.; Col. Gent.; Cox; Saunders (p); Cant. O.N.; Gisborne; Reeves; The Press, 26 Jun 1907, 12, 19 Apr 1930 (p).

Portraits: Leathersellers Hall, London; Parliament House.

Reference: Volume 1, page 189

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