MONTGOMERY, WILLIAM (1821-1914) came of an old Scotch family which settled in northern Ireland about 1620. He was born in London, the son of Josias Montgomery, who four years later was killed in the hunting field. He was then brought up at Boltmaconnel, near Belfast, and attended the Royal Academical Institution, where an uncle, Dr Henry Montgomery, an eminent Unitarian divine, was English master.

Montgomery had an adventurous disposition and was apprenticed to the sea at the age of 13 at the wage of £4 a year. He showed marked ability, became third mate, and studied navigation and astronomy. When he was only seventeen, the captain being habitually drunk and the first mate ignorant of navigation, he navigated the vessel from the Mediterranean to London. The owners made him a captain. After running this ship for some years he bought it, and later had a new vessel built.

Montgomery at one time was on the point of joining a band of young men who were going to Chile; but after reading Dunmore Lang's Australia Felix he changed his mind. Landing in Melbourne in 1851, he found the gold fever raging in New South Wales, and Port Phillip crowded with ships deserted by their crews. He bought an acre of land at the corner of Swanson and Bourke streets; but as diggers constantly pitched their tents on it and refused to be ejected, he sold it and bought land in the country. He was one of a party of four who found gold some miles up the Yarra river. He afterwards visited Ballarat, Forest Creek, Friar's Creek and other fields, and acquired sufficient money to purchase a station on the Darling Downs. Here he worked hard for some years until he was ruined by a severe drought.

Deciding to seek a more kindly climate, he crossed to New Zealand in 1860 and settled in Christchurch. He went into business as a timber merchant, prospered moderately, and devoted some of his ripe experience to the affairs of the community. He first appeared in public life in 1864, as a member of the Heathcote road board. For several years he served on these boards, some time as chairman. This led naturally to his election, in July 1866, as member of the Provincial Council for Heathcote. Before the end of the year he was a member of the executive, and in 1867 he was for a short time deputy-superintendent. In Mar 1868 he was again in the executive as provincial treasurer, an office which he held until May 1869. When the Council was dissolved early in 1870, he retired, but in Sep 1873 he was again returned for Heathcote, which he continued to represent until the abolition. He was in the executive from Jan 1874 to Apr 1875, most of the time as president.

While Montgomery was in the Council it abolished school fees and set up school districts with committees elected by the householders. The education ordinance of 1870 provided for non-sectarian education as the considered policy of the Superintendent and the executive. At the last moment of the election campaign, early in 1874, the denominationalists persuaded Stafford, who had recently come to live in the district, to allow himself to be nominated as a candidate. Though he had been Superintendent of Nelson he had never been a member of a provincial council; but he felt strongly on this subject and agreed to stand in the hope of having the ordinance amended. At a meeting in the Colombo road school (at which Montgomery and Sir Cracroft Wilson also spoke) Stafford, supported by Sir David Monro, made one of the best speeches of his career. The provincial government nevertheless triumphed. Montgomery polled 483 votes, Fisher 315, Wilson 280, Stafford 163.

A fortnight later Montgomery was returned as member for Akaroa in the House of Representatives (defeating Pilliet by 186 votes to 76). In Parliament his clear thinking and obvious unselfishness soon gained him the respect of both sides. A Liberal by conviction, he was, in the words of Saunders, "the most consistent, the most unselfish, clear-headed, and clean-handed member of the party then supporting Sir George Grey." Grey offered him the position of Colonial Treasurer in 1877; but he refused to accept, as Grey could not give a definite assurance that the Canterbury land fund would not be absorbed in the Colonial revenue. Nevertheless he supported Grey; and on his visit to Christchurch moved a vote of unbounded confidence. In 1881 he was returned unopposed for Akaroa. Ballance having been defeated, Montgomery was elected leader of the Liberal party, and was looked upon as a future premier. He "sought nothing for himself. Always too ready to efface himself," said a biographer when he died, "and to give others the honour that the work might be done. History will never record the country's incalculable debt to this true patriot and simple Christian gentleman." In 1884 he once more gave evidence of his utter unselfishness. Vogel had submitted the names of a new cabinet, including Montgomery as Minister for Education and Colonial Secretary. They duly took office, but within a fortnight were defeated through the discontent of the Auckland members with the preponderance of South Islanders in the Cabinet. To meet the exigency, Vogel accepted the self-sacrifice of Montgomery, and returned to power with a due representation of Auckland. "Such self-sacrifice and self-abnegation will never be forgotten by me," remarked Stout in the House. At the elections of 1884 (when he defeated Anson for Akaroa) 15 members of the new Parliament had declared themselves in favour of his leadership. Montgomery cheerfully remained a private member throughout the Parliament, and retired at the end of 1887 in order to pay a visit to England.

Besides his service on the road board he was a member of the Canterbury board of education (1866-75) and chairman from 1867. He was associated with Tancred, Rolleston, Hallens and W. C. Walker in the administration of the Canterbury system. Later, on the introduction of the national system, Montgomery was a member of the education board (1876-85) and for some time chairman. He was a governor of Canterbury College (1873-1903) and for 10 years chairman. During his chairmanship many buildings were erected for the College, and the museum, the Boys' High School, the School of Art and the Public Library. He strongly opposed the Bible in schools. "The Bible is one of the grandest of books to study," he said. "It contains the history of the human race in its various phases. It contains the greatest consolation for men, whether in health or in sickness. But let it not be introduced to destroy a system of education which is a credit to the colony." In 1892 the Liberal Government appointed Montgomery to the Legislative Council. When he resigned in 1907 he was granted the title of 'honourable' for life. He was frequently consulted by both Ballance and Seddon, and was for two years (1893-95) a member of the executive without portfolio. "An orderly and methodical rather than a forceful speaker, he rarely if ever indulged in harsh language even under strong provocation," remarks Saunders. Having supported manhood suffrage, and even women's suffrage, as long ago as 1879, he voted with the Liberal party on all such questions.

Montgomery died on 21 Dec 1914. His son WILLIAM HUGH MONTGOMERY, was M.H.R. for Ellesmere 1893-99.

Canterbury P.C. Proc.; N.Z.P.D., 25 Jun 1915; Saunders; Reeves; Drummond; N.Z. Times, 17 Oct 1892; Lyttelton Times, 22 Dec 1914; The Press, 1 Mar 1920 (p). Portrait: Parliament House.

Reference: Volume 2, page 50

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