(?1825–?).

Founder of Hauhauism.

A new biography of Te Ua Haumene appears in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography on this site.

Te Ua was born at Waiaua, the son of Tutawake and Paihaka, of the Ngati Ruanui tribe of Taranaki. At the age of three he was captured at Rimupiko pa by the Waikatos and taken to Kawhia, where he was raised in slavery. Te Ua did not attend mission schools but his captors taught him to read the New Testament. On the establishment of British sovereignty, the Waikatos manumitted their slaves and Te Ua returned to Taranaki, where he came under the influence of Wesleyan missionaries. He acted as an assistant monitor (lay reader) to the mission, where his duties introduced him to the Old Testament. He was baptised by Whiteley, with the name Tamati Horopapera–supposedly a Maori corruption of “Zerubbabsel”, but which may perhaps be more appropriately rendered “Old Bible” or “Holy Writ”. Te Ua took no part in the Taranaki land feud, only taking up arms when Kingi became embroiled with the Imperial troops.

In September 1862 the Lord Worsley was wrecked off Cape Egmont and the local natives debated among themselves what should be done. A few, including Te Ua, wished the goods to be sent to New Plymouth intact. When this advice was ignored, Te Ua became ill and while in this state received a revelation from the Angel Gabriel who directed him to found a new religion. Fame of Te Ua's “miracles” spread; the new cult of Hauhauism gained many converts, and provided a basis for achieving Maori unity against the invading Pakeha. In September 1865, at the height of the Maori Wars, Parris, Government Agent, removed Te Ua from the rebels and settled him near Opunake for a time. In February 1866 General Chute captured him once more and handed him over to Sir George Grey, who induced Te Ua to accompany him on his tour of the disaffected areas. The sight of the Hauhau prophet in company with the Governor discredited him in his followers' eyes, so that, when he was released in Auckland a few months later, Te Ua faded from Maori history. With his prominent eyes, wavy hair, and drooping moustache, he looked the part of a prophet. His eclipse was so complete that even his date of death is unrecorded.

by Bernard John Foster, M.A., Research Officer, Department of Internal Affairs, Wellington.

• Appendices to the Journals of the House of Representatives, 1864, E–8
• Hauhauism–An Episode in the Maori Wars, 1863–66, Babbage, S. B. (1937).

(1796?–1830?).

Seaman and Pakeha-Maori.

Rutherford was born at Manchester, c. 1796. He went to sea at 10 years of age in 1806 and was present at the storming of San Sebastian in August 1813. Later he went to New South Wales and made two trading trips through the South Seas. On the second in the Magnet, commanded by Captain Vine, he was put ashore sick at Hawaii. In a short time he was taken on board the Agnes, commanded by Captain Coffin, who made for New Zealand where, endeavouring to put into the Bay of Islands, he was blown off course and made anchorage, on 6 March 1816, at a bay called by Rutherford “Takomardu”. This was probably Poverty Bay, but may have been situated in the Bay of Islands or at Kennedys Bay. The crew, with the exception of 12 men, were killed and the ship burnt. All those remaining were killed and eaten, except Rutherford, who was taken inland by the chief “Aimy”. Rutherford was tattooed on the face, participated in tribal activities, and, later, was made a chief. He was then obliged to marry into the tribe and chose Aimy's two daughters, Hau and Peka, as his wives. Rutherford journeyed to the west coast of the North Island and Cook Strait, and was probably at the battle Ika-a-rangi-nui of February 1825 at which Hongi was a prominent figure. Rutherford was rescued on 9 January 1826 by Captain Jackson in an American brig, and eventually arrived in England in 1828 after visits to Hawaii, Australia, and Rio de Janiero. He supported himself for a time by showing his tattooed body in a “travelling caravan of wonders”. The publisher Charles Knight had many conversations with Rutherford in 1829, and information from these and a document compiled on Rutherford's journey to England were included in Craik's The New Zealanders. It is not known what became of Rutherford after 1830.

by John Sidney Gully, M.A., DIP.N.Z.L.S., Assistant Chief Librarian, General Assembly Library, Wellington.

• The New Zealanders, Craik, G. L. (1830)
• John Rutherford, Drummond, James (1908)
• When the Rainbow is Pale, Joseph, G. (1962).

At least 10 portraits of Rutherford exist, the best known being the oil by Oswald Birley, a three-quarter-length figure which hangs in the rooms of the Royal Society, Burlington House, London. An exact replica, executed by the artist on commission by Lord Bledisloe, is in the portrait gallery of the Dominion Art Gallery, Wellington. It represents Rutherford standing in a typical pose, as though addressing an audience, and with one of his many famous pieces of apparatus alongside. It was with this comparatively simple apparatus that he showed, in 1909, that accumulated alpha particles, quite independently of the particular radioactive material from which they were expelled, consist of the element helium. This famous experiment convincingly reaffirmed the natural transmutation of one element into another.

A pencil sketch, head and shoulders, by Francis Dodd, which hangs in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, is perhaps one of the best and most characteristic representations of Rutherford. This was reproduced for the first time in the N.Z. Science Review, August 1956. In the same issue appears a photograph of the floor of the Abbey, showing the stones commemorating both Rutherford and Thomson.

by Lyndon Bastings, B.A.(N.Z.), M.SC.(N.Z., CAMB.), D.SC., F.R.S.N.Z., Director, Building Research Bureau of New Zealand, Wellington.

• Radio-activity (1904)
• Ibid. (2nd rev. ed. 1905);Radio-active Transformations (1906)
• Radioactive Substances and their Radiations (With Chadwick and Ellis) (1913)
• Artificial Transmutation of the Elements (1933)
• The Newer Alchemy (1937)
• The Collected Papers of Lord Rutherford of Nelson, O.M., F.R.S., Vol. I (1962), Vol. II (1963), Chadwick, J. (ed.) (to be followed by further volumes). Rutherford – Life and Letters, Eve, A. S. (1939)
• Man of Power, Evans, I. B. N. (1939)
• Lord Rutherford of Nelson, Focken, C. M. (1938)
• Lord Rutherford, Laby, T. S. (1944)
• Some Personal Memories of Lord Rutherford of Nelson, Dale, H. (1950)
• Ernest Rutherford – Atom Pioneer, Rowland, J. (1955)
• Rutherford by Those who Knew Him, Cockcroft, J., et. al. (1951)
• N.Z. Science Review, Jul 1951 (special Rutherford issue)
• Ibid., Aug 1956,Rutherfordiana, Bastings, L.
• Hommage à Lord Rutherford, World Federation of Scientific Workers (1947)
• Transactions of the Royal Society of New Zealand, Vol. 68 (1938), “The Publications of the Late Lord Rutherford”, Focken, C. M.
• Rutherford at Manchester, Birks, J. B. (ed.) 1963
• The Times (London), 20 Oct 1937 (Obit)
• Nature, 30 Oct 1937 (Obits).

1886, Marlborough Provincial Scholar; 1889, Junior Scholar (Univ. of N.Z.); 1892, Senior Scholar and B.A. degree; 1893, M.A. with double first-class Honours (physics and mathematics) and B.Sc.; 1895, 1851 Exhibition Science Research Scholar; 1897, B.A. Research Degree (Cambr.) and Coutts Trotter Student (Trinity College); 1900, Elected Fellow, Royal Society of Canada; 1901, D.Sc. (Univ. of N.Z.); 1903, Elected Fellow, Royal Society (F.R.S.); 1904, Elected Hon. Member, Royal Society of New Zealand; 1905, Rumford Medallist, Royal Society and Silliman Lecturer, Yale University; 1908, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, and Bressa Prizeman, Turin Academy of Science, Italy; 1910, Barnard Medallist, Columbia University; 1914, Created Knight Bachelor (New Year's Honours) and Matteucci Medallist, Italian Society of Scientists; 1919 Elected Fellow, Trinity College, Cambridge; 1921–37, Professor of Natural Philosophy, The Royal Institution, London; 1922, Copley Medallist, Royal Society; 1923, President, British Association for the Advancement of Science; 1924, Franklin Medallist, Franklin Institute of Philadelphia; 1925, Order of Merit (O.M.); 1925–30, President, Royal Society (P.R.S.); 1927, Guthrie Lecturer, Physical Society of London; 1928, Albert Medallist, Royal Society of Arts; 1929–37, Chairman, Advisory Council of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research: 1930, Faraday Medallist, Institute of Electrical Engineers; 1931, Created Baron Rutherford of Nelson, and Hon. D.Sc. Univ. of N.Z.; 1931–33, President, Institute of Physics; 1936, Faraday Lecturer, Chemical Society; 1937, President-elect, Joint Meeting in India (1938) of the British Association and the Indian Science Congress (presidential address read posthumously).

In addition to these major honours, Rutherford was awarded honorary doctorates by the Universities of Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Clark, Cape Town, Copenhagen, Dublin, Durham, Edinburgh, Giessen, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, London, McGill, Melbourne, Oxford, Paris, Pennsylvania, Toronto, and Yale. He was also elected an honorary member of at least 17 scientific institutions, societies, and the like, and was a corresponding member of no less than 14 others.

(1871–1937).

Physicist.

A new biography of Rutherford, Ernest appears in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography on this site.

Ernest Rutherford was born on 30 August 1871 at Spring Grove (now Brightwater), Nelson Province, New Zealand. On his birth certificate his name, entered by his father, appears as Earnest, but on his marriage certificate the “a” is dropped. He was the son of James Rutherford who, with his father, George, emigrated from Perth, Scotland. His mother was Martha, née Thompson, of Horn-church, Essex. Rutherford was educated at Foxhill (1876–81) and Havelock (1882–86) primary schools, Nelson College (1887–89), Canterbury (University) College, Christchurch (1890–95), and the Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, England (1895–98). At the early age of 27 Rutherford was appointed Macdonald Professor of Physics at McGill University, Montreal, Canada (1898–1907). From there he advanced to the Langworthy Chair of Physics at Manchester University (1907–19); and while still in his prime was invited to fill the honoured post of Cavendish Professor of Experimental Physics in the University of Cambridge and Director of the Cavendish Laboratory (1919–37), in succession to the famous Sir J. J. Thomson.

After he left New Zealand in 1896 Rutherford corresponded regularly both with his fiancée and with his mother; and much of this and of his later voluminous international correspondence has been preserved, copies having been reproduced and deposited, inter alia, in the library at Canterbury University. On four different occasions he paid short visits to his native land; in 1900 (for his marriage); in 1905 (visiting his parents, and accompanying his wife and daughter back to Canada); in 1914 (after attending the British Association meeting in Australia), when he delivered public lectures in Wellington and Christchurch; and finally in 1925 (to visit his parents), when he gave public addresses in Auckland, Wellington, Nelson, and Christchurch.

Throughout later life Rutherford was interested in promising New Zealand science students, encouraging them to come to Britain and, when possible, arranging for them to work with him. The following New Zealanders (by birth or adoption) did research work under his direction, either at Manchester or at Cambridge: Professor D. C. H. Florance (1909–19), Dr E. Marsden (1909–14), Dr L. Bastings (1923–25), Dr D. H. Black (1923–25), Professor J. W. Hinton (1924–26), Dr G. T. P. Tarrant (1928–33), and Professor R. R. Nimmo (1926–29, and 1936). On 28 June 1900, at Papanui, Christchurch, Rutherford married Mary Georgina (1876–1945), only daughter of Arthur Charles and Mary de Renzy Newton. There was but one child of the marriage, Eileen Mary (1901–30), later wife of (Sir) Ralph Howard Fowler, Professor of Mathematical Physics at Cambridge University; but four grandchildren survive: Dr Peter Howard (physics), Mrs Elizabeth Rutherford Taylor (genetics), Eliot Patrick (engineering), and Dr Ruth Eileen Edwards (medicine). Lord Rutherford died at Cambridge, England, on 19 October 1937. He was interred in the nave of Westminster Abbey, and his ashes now lie alongside those of Sir J. J. Thomson.

When Rutherford commenced his research career at Cambridge in 1895, the physical sciences were just emerging from a period of quiescence and consolidation, with little prospect of fundamental progress. But the discovery of X-rays by Röntgen in 1895, of radioactivity by Becquerel in 1896, and of the electron by J. J. Thomson in 1897 completely transformed the scene and opened up a new era of scientific progress. “Seldom can anyone have started his career at a more auspicious moment; seldom can anyone have been better endowed to grasp, or more gloriously successful in exploiting, the opportunities that crowded fast upon him.” (R. H. Fowler.) It is not appropriate here to enter into details of the vast amount of experimental work which Rutherford undertook during the 42 years of his very active life. But brief reference may be made to his four outstanding discoveries in the field of atomic physics, any one of which was of sufficient importance to gain him international fame.

1. In 1903 Rutherford and Soddy, at the conclusion of a brilliant series of accurate quantitative experiments, advanced the revolutionary theory of spontaneous disintegration to account for the newly discovered phenomena of radioactivity. This theory explained the mystery as a natural and spontaneous transmutation of the parent elements (radium, thorium, etc.) into a series of new radioactive elements, differing in their chemical and physical properties from the parent elements.

2. In 1913 Rutherford investigated certain extraordinary effects observed in experiments conducted by himself and Marsden on the bombardment of metal foils with the alpha particles emitted by radium, and came to the conclusion that the atom (that minute unit believed to enter into the composition of all materials, and previously thought to be indivisible) was in fact very complex. He thereupon propounded the nuclear theory of the atom, in which he envisaged this tiny unit as a collection of still more minute particles, behaving somewhat like planets (the electrons) revolving around a central sun (the nucleus). Abundant evidence has accumulated in subsequent years to establish the essential truth of this epoch-making conclusion.

3. In 1919 Rutherford succeeded in detecting the transmutation of one elementary material (nitrogen) into another (hydrogen), a transmutation induced artificially when the former was bombarded by the natural alpha particles of radium.

4. In 1932 Rutherford, working with Cockcroft and Walton, was able to take the idea of transmutation an important step further. They were able to show that artificial transmutations could be accomplished also by using as projectiles for the bombardment particles of hydrogen which had been artificially accelerated to enormous speeds under the influence of a new type of electric machine which they had developed and which is described as a proton accelerator.

This last stage in the long chain of progress, which commenced at Montreal and was stepped up at Manchester, paved the way for the spectacular developments of the next 20 years, concluding with the release on an industrial scale of the enormous energy latent in radioactive materials, and harnessed recently in the atomic-energy power stations.

Many famous contemporaries of Rutherford have attempted appraisals of his work, some of which are quoted here.

“Rutherford was the father of nuclear physics. The inspired interpretation of his observations and his genius for experiment led to practically all we know about the structure of the atom. … He always worked on problems at the limits of human knowledge … the greatest physical scientist of his age.” (Sir Robert Robinson, P.R.S.)

“A man of the greatest intellectual power, who has altered the whole viewpoint of science, who accomplished an amazing amount of work of the first order, a physicist who obtained the highest prizes in life, who ranks among the greatest scientific men of all ages.” (A. S. Eve.)

“Even the casual reader of Rutherford's papers must be deeply impressed by his power in experiment.… He was, in my opinion, the greatest experimental physicist since Faraday.” (Sir James Chadwick.)

“The great majority (of his papers) were about researches … which had led to results of first-rate importance and which could not have been obtained by anyone who was not an experimentalist of the very first order.” (Sir J. J. Thomson.)

“The splendour of Rutherford's contributions to science … have played a leading part in the marvellous advances of modern physics.” (Sir William Bragg.)

“With the passing away of Lord Rutherford, the life of one of the greatest men who ever worked in science has come to an end. … He left science in quite a different state from that in which he found it.… He will be missed more, perhaps, than any scientific worker has ever been missed before.” (Professor Neils Bohr.)

Outstanding as was Rutherford's work, all his eulogisers speak even more enthusiastically of his forceful and endearing personal qualities, as the following quotations show.

“Those who were honoured by his friendship knew that his greatness as a scientist was matched by his greatness as a man. We… always shall remember with affection his big, energetic, exuberant personality; the simplicity, sincerity and transparent honesty of his character; and, perhaps most of all, his genius for friendship and good companionship. … Rutherford was ever the happy warrior – happy in his work, happy in its outcome, and happy in his human contacts.” (Sir James Jeans.)

“The greatest need of our age is the production of inspired leaders, of which he was the outstanding example of our generation.… I do want to remind you how much his career has influenced the respect and goodwill of the rest of the world for the country which produced him; and to emphasize the pride which properly comes to us that Rutherford was born and educated in New Zealand.” (Sir Ernest Marsden.)

“One of the secrets of Rutherford's success … was that he … possessed exceptional tenacity of purpose … pushing forward in his investigations with judgment, ingenuity and courage.” (I. B. N. Evans.)

“He stands at the height of his creative power, highly respected by his colleagues, admired and loved by the great host of his pupils … and on this day (his sixtieth birthday) will be paid to him in the highest measure the tribute of the recognition of the whole scientific world.” (Otto Hahn and Lise Meitner.)

“His refreshing personality, his dauntless spirit, the merry twinkle of his eye, the exuberance of his ever-youthful, ever-joyful enthusiasm: how can they be recaptured: … One can only say he was … a peer among men.” (Lord Baldwin.)

In 1952 the Royal Society launched a Commonwealth-wide appeal for funds to establish a suitable memorial to the life and work of Rutherford. Public support throughout New Zealand resulted in the collection of a sum which, when augmented by about £800 from the Government, reached £10,000. So generously was the appeal supported throughout the Commonwealth that the Royal Society was enabled to establish the memorial in two forms: (a) Rutherford Memorial Scholarships, to be awarded to postgraduate students within the British Commonwealth, for research in the natural sciences, with preference for experimental physics; and (b) a Rutherford Memorial Lecture, to be delivered at intervals at selected university centres in the Commonwealth overseas, at least one in three to be given in New Zealand.

So far no award of the Rutherford Memorial Scholarship has been made by the Royal Society to a New Zealand candidate. Rutherford Memorial Lecturers in New Zealand have been: 1952, Sir John Cockcroft, F.R.S. (Proc. Roy. Soc. A. 217, 1, 1953); 1956, Sir Charles Darwin, F.R.S., “The Discovery of Atomic Number” (Proc. Roy. Soc. A. 236, 285, 1956; N.Z. Science Review, Aug 1956); 1960, Sir Lawrence Bragg, F.R.S., “The Development of X-ray Analysis” (Proc. Roy. Soc. A. 262, 145, 1961).

(1838–1913).

Minister of the Crown

A new biography of Russell, William Russell appears in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography on this site.

William Russell Russell was born on 12 November 1838 at Sandhurst, Berkshire, the son of Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew Hamilton Russell and Eliza Ann, née Howlett. He was educated at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, and on 16 March 1855 commissioned as an ensign in the 58th Regiment. Promoted Lieutenant on 12 December 1856, Russell joined his regiment's headquarters in New Zealand in the following year. In 1859 he returned to England where he transferred, with the rank of captain, to the 14th Regiment. He accompanied the 14th to New Zealand in 1861 – being stationed at Wellington – but sold his commission the next year in order to take up land in Hawke's Bay.

From 1869 until 1871 he represented Waimarama in the Hawke's Bay Provincial Council, after which he represented the Napier Country district until 1876. On 30 November 1875 the Napier constituency returned him to the House of Representatives, where he remained until 1881; and, from 1884 until his defeat in 1905, he represented Hawke's Bay. In 1884, during Atkinson's short-lived ministry, Russell held office as Postmaster-General. He rejoined the ministry on 17 October 1889 when he assumed the portfolios of Colonial Secretary, Defence, and Justice. Following the defeat of Rolleston, at the 1893 general election, Russell became Leader of the Opposition, a post he retained until 1903. With Sir John Hall, Russell represented New Zealand at the first Australasian Federation Convention in 1889; and, with Sir George Grey, he attended the resumed convention in 1891. On this occasion he opposed Grey's Elective Governor proposal and voted against the rest of his delegation. In 1900 he was a member of the Federation Convention.

In addition to his political interests, Russell served on many local bodies, including the Hawke's Bay Education Board, the County Council, the Hospital and Charitable Aid Board, the Waste Land Board, and the Rabbit Board. He was also a governor of the Napier High Schools' Board, a captain in the Meeanee Militia, and, later, in the Hastings Rules. For many years Sir William Russell bred and raced his own horses. He was the first president of the New Zealand Racing Conference and, from his earliest connection with the sport, endeavoured to raise its tone. In 1902 Russell was created Knight Bachelor – the only occasion in New Zealand where the Leader of the Opposition has been recommended for such an honour by the ruling Prime Minister. On 26 June 1913 the Massey Government summoned him to the Legislative Council, shortly before his death.

In 1867, at Chichester, Russell married Harriette Julia Hodgskin, of Cawley Priory, Sussex. He died at Napier on 24 September 1913 leaving two sons and four daughters. Sir William was an uncle of Major-General Sir Andrew Russell.

During his lifetime Russell was known for his unfailing courtesy and capability as an administrator.

Sir William's eldest son, Harold Arthur Russell, was born at Napier on 29 January 1871 and educated at Bradfield College, England, and Lincoln Agricultural College, New Zealand. For many years he farmed the family property at Sherenden and Flaxmere Stud Farm in Hawke's Bay. He captained the Hawke's Bay polo team which won the Savile Cup in 1907, 1909, 1910, 1911, and 1912. On 22 June 1934 he was called to the Legislative Council where he remained until his death on 14 July 1938.

by Bernard John Foster, M.A., Research Officer, Department of Internal Affairs, Wellington.

• N.Z.P.D., Vol. 165, 24 Sep 1913 (Obit)
• Hart's Army List, 1861, Hawke's Bay Herald, 24 Sep 1913 (Obit).

, C.M.G. (1830–1904).

Lawyer, politician, and land speculator.

A new biography of Russell, Thomas appears in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography on this site.

Thomas Russell was born at Cork, in Ireland, being the son of a small farmer who emigrated to New Zealand with his family in the Lady Leigh and, after living for a few months at Kororareka, settled at Auckland in 1840. The elder Russell earned his living as a small farmer and a carpenter, while the mother managed a shop in Shortland Street. Although opportunities for education must have been limited, Thomas Russell received his from a Dr Currie. Later he entered the office of Thomas Outhwaite, a solicitor, and in 1851 was finally admitted to practice as one of the first two New Zealand lawyers. According to Larkworthy he was refused a partnership – hence his entering into practice on his own. Russell was a lay preacher in the Methodist Church and a close friend of the Rev. Walter Lawry, the leading Methodist in New Zealand. In 1855 he married Emmeline Vercoe, Lawry's niece. Shortly before, her sister Martha married John Grigg, who later took over Longbeach. The Methodist connection helped the growth of Russell's law practice, but he must have been engaged from an early date in land speculations, although opportunities at the time were rather limited. In 1860 his first major business undertaking, the New Zealand Insurance Co., was established, followed in 1861 by the Bank of New Zealand. Although it is probable that the idea of a New Zealand bank had been mooted for some time amongst the Auckland merchants who founded the New Zealand Insurance Co., Falconer Lark-worthy in his memoirs claims that Russell's decision to promote the establishment of a bank was prompted by the reluctance of the Bank of New South Wales to take over Russell's account with the Oriental Bank, which was withdrawing from New Zealand.

Russell entered into partnership with Frederick Whitaker in 1861 and, in the same year, was elected the member for Auckland City East, a seat which he held until 1866. He joined Domett's Executive in August 1862 and made his presence felt by a less compromising approach to the Maori land issue, a policy given expression by the passage of the Native Lands Act 1862 which abolished the sole right of the Crown to purchase Maori Land. The Whitaker-Fox Ministry was formed in 1863 for the purpose of pursuing a more rigorous war policy. The New Zealand Settlements Act of 1863, which authorised confiscations by proclamation of Maori-owned land, was the major legislative change made by this Ministry. Its fall in 1864 was the result of a growing conflict with Sir George Grey, who eventually refused to sanction the sale of confiscated land, with the consequent failure of Russell's policy of military settlements.

Upon the removal of the capital to Wellington in 1865 Russell became an ardent provincialist, but after a year's sojourn in the Provincial Council he retired from politics to devote his energies to business affairs, principally the Bank of New Zealand and the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Association which was established in London in 1865 with a capital of £500,000 to make advances to run-holders and farmers. The connection between this company and the bank remained a very close one for the next 20 years. Apart from his association with goldmining on the Thames, where he and Whitaker were most successful in the Caledonian Mine venture, Russell's name over the next decade or so is most closely linked with land companies in the Waikato, and the manner in which land was acquired for these companies caused a good deal of controversy. The Piako swamp purchase of 1873 was the subject of a parliamentary inquiry in 1875, as the land was sold to Russell at 5s. per acre (2s. 6d. in cash only) without all the provisions of the regulations having been complied with, particularly that which required that notice of purchases of confiscated land be advertised in the Gazette. In the same year the Government was criticised for entering into an arrangement with Russell which granted him a block of land near Te Aroha in return for his not competing with the Crown in the purchase of Maori land on the east side of the Waihou River. This transaction was finally validated by legislation in 1883. Although his name was not directly associated with it, the parliamentary controversy sparked off by Sir George Grey in 1879 and 1880 over the Patetere purchase in the Upper Waikato was also a criticism of Russell's speculative ventures.

To profit from the large blocks of land that he and his partners had secured in the Waikato, Russell, who had taken up residence in London in the mid-seventies, floated three large companies there with the aim of developing the land and selling it at a profit. The Waikato Land Association, formed in 1879 with a capital of £600,000, took over the 88,000 acres of the Piako swamp purchase; the Auckland Agricultural Co., with a capital of £800,000, was formed in 1881 and took over 107,000 acres stretching from Cambridge to Okoroire; and the New Zealand Thames Valley Land Co., in 1883 with a capital of £500,000, took over about 300,000 acres extending from Okoroire to Atiamuri. Although the promoters were ignorant of the fact, much of this latter block suffered from what was later discovered to be cobalt deficiency. Some of Russell's associates in these ventures were the former premier, Sir Edward Stafford, Sir James Fergusson, a former governor, Sir George Russell, and the Liberal politician, Phillip Mundella. None of these companies was successful, the decline in prices during the 1880s being one cause, but the main difficulty was the inability of Waikato soils to sustain satisfactory pastures or a succession of annual crops. The three companies came to lean more heavily on the Bank of New Zealand and the Loan and Mercantile Association for working capital, and thus contributed greatly to the difficulties both institutions faced in the early 1890s. Russell's connection with the Bank of New Zealand ceased in 1888, but he remained a director of the loan company. It was compelled to suspend payments in 1893 and the actions of its directors in continuing to pay dividends and increase capital when they knew that the company's advances were inadequately secured was severely criticised by the judge who examined its affairs. The President of the Board of Trade, Phillip Mundella, who had been a director, was forced to resign his office in 1894 as a result of these disclosures. Although Russell's land speculations ended in failure, his most successful venture began in 1890 when he acquired ownership of a number of mines at Waihi which he combined into the Waihi Goldmining Co., of which he remained a director until his death. After retiring from the Bank, Russell lived in England. He died at Normanswood, Farnham, Surrey, on 2 September 1904.

Most historians' estimates of Russell have been unfavourable, it being accepted that he was little more than an unprincipled speculator. This viewpoint is reinforced by Larkworthy who, though not interested in the ethics of Maori land confiscation, felt that Russell continually subordinated other people's interests to his own. There is no doubt, however, that he was a man of wide vision and had full confidence in New Zealand's economic expansion and that, although the immediate benefits derived by the community from large capital expenditure on land development in the Waikato were not so apparent, the longer term results were highly advantageous. Mention must also be made of his work as Minister of Defence, where he displayed his unusual organising abilities in establishing the Waikato military settlements in the face of the scepticism and, at times, hostility of the British military authorities. Russell was awarded the C.M.G. in 1877.

by Patrick Russell Stephens, M.A., Economics Section, Department of Agriculture, Wellington.

• Ninety-one Years, Larkworthy, F. (1924)
• New Zealand Banker's Hundred, Chappell, N. M. (1961)
• Sir George Grey, Rutherford, J. (1961)
• The Times (Lond.), 3 Sep 1904 (Obit).

(1809?–55).

Timber trader.

Russell was present at the Sydney sale in January 1831 when McDonnell bought the Sir George Murray and the Horeke property where she had been built. He sailed immediately for Hokianga and took possession of the Horeke, McDonnell following two months later in Sir George Murray. Russell remained at Horeke for about eight years, either as McDonnell's partner or as his manager. During this period he bought eight blocks of land, mainly in the kauri-forested Waihou-Mangamuka area, disposing of most of them prior to his first Kohukohu purchase of June 1839. By that date he had parted company with McDonnell and was already trading at Kohukohu on his own account. With the shipment of cargoes of kauri spars and squared timber to London and other markets, Russell's business rapidly expanded, Kohukohu succeeding Horeke as the centre of the Hokianga timber trade.

He was a friend and business associate both of John Logan Campbell and of F. E. Maning, the latter writing of him in 1844: “I would have often been puzzled to get on only for my friend Russell who is a very good fellow and has lent me many a helping hand”. Russell's wife was a close relative of Nene, who is said to have left to Russell's family the goblet presented to him by Queen Victoria.

Russell did not actively campaign with Maning and Webster in 1845, but helped to supply the early Hokianga war parties opposing Heke, and was later instrumental in preventing the spread of hostilities to Hokianga. Kohukohu was in Ihutai territory, and the Ihutai, led by Te Wharepapa, was one of several Hokianga tribes which threw in their lot with Heke. At the beginning of January 1846 Heke and a small band of followers eluded Te Taonui, and it was at first feared they might attack Hokianga. A detachment of Maoris was accordingly sent by Te Taonui to protect the European settlers, and in addition HMS Osprey, Captain Patten, was ordered to Hokianga. On arrival off Kohukohu, Patten announced his intention of attacking the nearby Ihutai pa. Russell called the European settlers together and dissuaded Patten from an action which would have jeopardised European lives and property and ended neutrality in the Hokianga.

Being “small in size and quick in movement”, Russell was known to the Maoris as “Piwakawaka”. He died in June 1855, aged 46. A son, Frederick Nene Russell, was elected unopposed as the first Member of the House of Representatives for Northern Maori. The Kohukohu business was carried on by John Webster, who married Russell's eldest daughter.

by Ruth Miriam Ross, School Teacher and Authoress, North Auckland.

• O.L.C. files (MSS), National Archives
• J. Webster Letters (MSS) in Russell Family Papers (MSS), Auckland Public Library
• Reminiscences of an Old Settler, Webster, J. (1908)
• New Zealander, 18 Jul 1855 (Obit).

(1811–1900).

Early settler and Minister of the Crown.

Andrew Hamilton Russell was born in 1811, the third and posthumous son of Captain Andrew Hamilton Russell of the 28th Regiment, who took part in the Battle of Copenhagen (1801), served in the Walcheren Expedition, and lost his life near Badajoz, in the Peninsular campaign. His mother was Sarah, née Blunden.

On 18 January 1828 Hamilton was commissioned as an ensign in the 22nd Regiment, being promoted to lieutenant on 23 July 1834 and captain on 31 December 1841. He saw active service in India and took part in the conquest of the Scinde. In 1842 he transferred to the 58th Regiment and served in the Southern Division of New Zealand from 9 April 1845, taking part in the operations against Te Rangihaeata in the Hutt Valley and Porirua districts. In June 1846 Governor George Grey appointed him Superintendent of Military Roads in the Wellington district and, during the next few years, he supervised the construction of the principal roads between Wellington, the Hutt Valley, and Porirua. He retired from the army in 1859 with the rank of lieutenant-colonel and took up the Mangakauri sheep station in Hawke's Bay. Russell was summoned to the Legislative Council on 2 July 1861, where he remained until 16 July 1872, when his appointment as an Inspector of Native Schools caused him to be disqualified from membership. He was Minister of Native Affairs in the unreconstructed ministry of Stafford, but resigned on 24 August 1866 in order to allow J. C. Richmond to enter. In 1874 Russell sold his Mangakauri property and returned to England.

In the early 1830s Russell married Elizabeth Ann, daughter of John Howlett of Yorkshire. He died at Fonthill, Torquay, Devonshire, on 20 April 1900. Two of his sons were commissioned in the 58th Regiment and later settled in New Zealand. The elder of these sons, Captain A. H. Russell (1837–1916), who was known as Hamilton Russell, farmed in Hawke's Bay. He married Katherine Sarah, daughter of Thomas Tinsley, and Major-General Sir Andrew Hamilton Russell was their son. Hamilton Russell returned to England and settled at the Heath House, Petersfield. The second son was Sir William Russell Russell.

The relation of the various members of the Russell family to each other is extremely confusing because no less than four generations – three of them living contemporaneously – have borne the names Andrew Hamilton.

by Bernard John Foster, M.A., Research Officer, Department of Internal Affairs, Wellington.

• N.Z.P.D., Vol. 112, 31 Jul 1900 (Obit)
• Hart's Army List, 1858
• Hawke's Bay Herald, 1 Aug 1900 (Obit).

(1868–1960).

Soldier and sheep farmer.

A new biography of Russell, Andrew Hamilton appears in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography on this site.

Andrew Hamilton Russell was born on 23 February 1868 at Napier, the son of Andrew Hamilton Russell, formerly of the 58th Regiment, and of Katherine Sarah, née Tinsley. He was thus a grandson of Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew Hamilton Russell (1811–1900) and a nephew of Sir William Russell Russell. He was educated at Harrow and Sandhurst, from where he graduated into the British Army. He spent five years with the Imperial Forces in India, and then in 1892 came out to New Zealand to join his father in sheep farming in Hawke's Bay. His pastoral pursuits did not keep him away from things military, however, and he took an active part in the development of the New Zealand Territorial Forces. When the 1914–18 War broke out, he was brigade commander of the Wellington Mounted Rifle Brigade, and he took this formation overseas with the Main Body of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force. After distinguished service on Gallipoli, and particularly at the evacuation in which he commanded the entire Anzac Force, he returned to Egypt, where he was given the command of the newly formed New Zealand Division, with the rank of Major-General. For his services to date he was created in 1915 a K.C.M.G. General Russell took the New Zealand Division to France for the duration of the war, and continued in command when it joined the Army of Occupation on the Rhine. He refused a corps command because he was determined to remain with his New Zealanders. In 1919 he returned home loaded with foreign decorations, a K.C.B. (1917), and the enthusiastic regard of his troops. Although he resumed his prosaic pre-war occupation of pastoralist, he maintained close contact with military affairs for many years and was an influential figure in the early years of the New Zealand Returned Services' Association, of which he was Dominion president for two terms. In 1940, at the age of 72 and with his country again at war, he emerged from retirement to assume the responsibilities of Inspector-General of the Forces in New Zealand. He died at his station homestead at Tunanui, Hawke's Bay, on 29 November 1960, full of years and honour at the age of 92.

General Russell was first and foremost a soldier, and remained one even after he turned farmer. He was trained in the hard school of the British military system, academically and in the field. His standards were as high on the parade ground as in action. A slave to work and discipline himself, he demanded the same of his officers and men within the limits of their capabilities and training, but his regimentalism was tempered by a warm sympathy for the common soldier, whose rights and privileges he always regarded as too circumscribed ever to be encroached upon unnecessarily. His unceasing regard for the safety and comfort of those he commanded, wherever such things were within his control, won him widespread respect. Of his calibre as a soldier and leader General Sir Ian Hamilton wrote: “Steady as a rock, with a clear head and a firm character, he belongs to the type of soldier who will shoulder responsibility and never leave his men or his commanders in the lurch”. This was a tribute Sir Andrew Russell earned in hard-fought campaigns with some of the most eminent military leaders of his time.

by Ronald Jones, Journalist and Script Writer, New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation, Wellington.

Evening Post, 29 Nov 1960 (Obit).