(1865–1940).

Merchant and benefactor.

A new biography of Sargood, Percy Rolfe appears in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography on this site.

Percy Rolfe Sargood was born in Melbourne on 26 September 1865, the second son of the Hon. Sir Frederick Thomas Sargood and Marion Australian, daughter of the Hon. George Rolfe, M.L.C. Sir Frederick was a distinguished Victorian politician and owner of a large warehouse business founded by his father, Frederick James Sargood. Percy was educated by a private tutor before attending St. Kilda's Scotch College; he completed his education in England at The Cedars, Rickmans-worth, and Hawthorne Grammar School.

In 1883 Sargood entered his father's business and served a six-year apprenticeship at the Melbourne premises. From there he was sent to England where he worked for a year with Bradbury, Greatorex and Co., with a further year in the London office of Sargoods. In 1891 he arrived in New Zealand as manager of the Christchurch and Dunedin warehouses, and the boot factory of the firm, and was made a junior partner after 12 months. After the deaths of his father and his partner, Ewen, he took over full control of the New Zealand business which he formed into a limited company in 1907 under the name of Sargood, Son, and Ewen Ltd., with himself as governing director. A good businessman and a considerate employer, he established one of the first staff provident funds.

Sargood had been brought up in a tradition of philanthropic and community service, though he did not share his father's interest in politics. A vigorous and capable administrator, he was a valued member of many organisations including the Rotary Club and the Chamber of Commerce; he represented New Zealand at the International Conference of the Chambers in London in 1926 and Dunedin at the Empire Conference in 1926. He served with distinction on patriotic committees during both World Wars. In the First World War he was chairman of the Expeditionary Forces Committee in Otago and made a personal contribution of £5,000 for patriotic work; he made a similar sum available for the same purpose during the Second World War when he served on the Otago Provincial Patriotic Council. During the 1930s, when he was a member of the Dunedin Unemployment Committee, he initiated the district scheme for the relief of distress. Sargood was also active in youth work. A pioneer supporter of the Boy Scout Movement, he was awarded the “Silver Wolf”, the highest distinction for those who have rendered outstanding service. He became a trustee of the Y.M.C.A. and was particularly interested in the scheme for settling young British boys from poor, homes on Commonwealth farms.

In 1912 he purchased Wanaka Station which became well known under his administration for the quality of its sheep and Friesian cattle. An enthusiastic advocate of irrigation in Central Otago, he applied to the Lake County Council for a lease of the Cardrona Nursery to show the value of an irrigation programme, but his application was rejected. In 1913 he planted 8,000 fruit trees to establish the Wanaka Orchards, which demonstrated that the country, when irrigated, was ideally suited for fruit growing. His faith in the future of Central Otago made him a major shareholder in the Cromwell Development Co. which was formed in 1914 to irrigate the Cromwell Flats from the Kawarau River. The scheme was to develop the land and subdivide it for settlement but local residents strongly opposed the company as potential land grabbers. The company's first and second attempts to dam the river failed and it was not until 1923 that a successful weir was completed. Despite the setbacks of the first scheme, the company hoped to extend its activities and acquire land on the Pisa Flat but local opinion opposed the proposal and the scheme was dropped. In 1926 the company succeeded in irrigating the lower part of the Cromwell Flat and developing it with excellent results as a sheep farm. Nevertheless the capital costs had been enormous and proved beyond the resources of the company. Sargood took over the debts and continued to finance the scheme despite bitter local criticism of his administration and with very little return for his outlay.

An enthusiastic collector of objets d'art and paintings, Sargood purchased one of Dunedin's most substantial homes “Marinoto” in 1902. His only son, Cedric Rolfe Sargood, was killed at Gallipoli while serving with the Otago Regiment of the New Zealand Infantry Brigade. As a memorial to their son, Sir Percy and Lady Sargood presented a new Art Gallery building at Logan Park to the City of Dunedin. He donated paintings to the Dunedin and National Galleries and was the founder of the Empire Art Loan Society. He served as Government representative on the Management Committee of the Otago Museum from its inception in 1931 until his death, providing administrative guidance and financial assistance. He bequeathed his ethnological collections to the museum. A keen sportsman, Sargood loved golf and horse riding. He was one of the Dominion's early motorists, acquiring a one-cylinder Cadillac in 1906.

At his death, Sargood directed that the bulk of his estate should be converted into a trust fund for the benefit of the arts and the youth of New Zealand. The Sargood Trust has assisted various youth organisations including the Y.W.C.A. and Y.M.C.A., Young Farmers' Clubs, the Boy Scout and Girl Guide movements, and various educational institutions.

Sargood married Lucy Constance, daughter of F. F. Ormond of Hawke's Bay in 1893. He was knighted in 1935 and died on 5 November 1940.

by Gloria Margaret Strathern, B.A., DIP.N.Z.L.S. formerly Librarian, Hocken Library, Dunedin.

• Heart of the Desert, Parcell, J. C. (1951)
• Evening Star (Dunedin), 5 Nov 1940 (Obit)
• Otago Daily Times, 5 Nov 1940 (Obit).

(1903– ).

Writer.

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

p>Frank Sargeson was born at Hamilton on 23 March 1903. As an extra-mural student of Auckland University College, he qualified in 1926 for admission as a solicitor. In the following year he travelled about Europe on foot. After returning to New Zealand in 1928 he spent 18 months as a public servant. During the next 10 years, while engaged in freelance journalism, he developed a style of story writing which, while strongly individualistic, is at the same time closely representative of New Zealand over approximately the first 30 years of this century. While working at sheep farming in the King Country and at market gardening in Auckland, he contributed mainly to the Christchurch periodical Tomorrow. A Man and His Wife (1940) confirmed the promise of a handful of sketches and stories published in 1936 as Conversation With My Uncle. During the forties Sargeson was a substantial contributor to Penguin New Writing, edited in London by John Lehmann; and his stories also appeared in England, the United States, and Australia. Since the appearance of these stories which established his reputation, Sargeson has written novels (That Summer, 1946; I Saw in My Dream, 1949; and I For One, 1954). In the fifties he turned to writing plays, and A Time for Sowing and The Cradle and the Egg were presented in Auckland by the New Independent Theatre in 1961 and 1962. Much of Sargeson's later work has appeared in the Dunedin periodical Landfall, including his long autobiographical essay Up Onto the Roof and Down Again, 1951. Besides fiction he has written many essays and some light verse. (See The Puritan and the Waif (1954), a symposium of critical essays on Sargeson's work edited by Helen Shaw.) In October 1965 Sargeson received the Katherine Mansfield Literary Award for his short story Just Trespassing, Thanks.

New Zealand “sandflies”, of which less than 10 different species are known at the present time, are true simuliid flies. Without doubt they are one of the greatest nuisances to human beings and warm blooded animals in New Zealand because of their biting habits. They often invade houses provided the rooms are not too dark; they are never found in dense bush but only on the edges, in clearings, and in large open spaces; they prefer banks of lakes, sea beaches, or high tussock grassland areas up to 5,000 ft, which is their uppermost limit. Where the winter is mild, they occur throughout the year. Populations of adults can be very high and in preferred localities they appear in such large numbers as to create visible swarms. The adult female is an aggressive blood-sucker but the male is incapable of drawing blood. Females are only on the wing during the day but in summer they may be active after sunset in the twilight but not during the night. Sandflies have no medical significance as they are not known to carry any disease organism. Adult flies are about 2½ mm in length, dull, velvety black in colour, and characterised by their hunch-backed or buffalo-like appearance. The pre-adult stages are passed under water in streams and rivers.

by Roy Alexander Harrison, D.SC., Senior Lecturer in Agricultural Zoology, Lincoln Agricultural College.

(1883–1917).

Famous New Zealand naval officer of the First World War.

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

The son of Edward Helman Cook Sanders, bootmaker, and Emma Jane Sanders, nèe Wilson, William Sanders was born at Alexander Street, Auckland, on 7 February 1883. After he had received his education at Nelson Street and Takapuna Primary Schools, his parents placed him with a Queen Street mercer at the age of 15, in spite of his expressed desire to go to sea. In 1899 he went to sea as a cabin boy in the steamer Kotiti and came up the hard way through steam and sail to command a ship in time of war. In 1906 he joined the Government steamer Hinemoa and then the Aparima before transferring to the Craig Line and sail, in which he took his second and then his first mate's certificates. He served in the Marjorie Craig, the Louise Craig, and was mate of the Joseph Craig when she went aground and was wrecked on the Hokianga bar, on 7 August 1914. Gaining his extra master's certificate on 7 November 1914 and his compass adjuster's certificate three days later, he applied to join the Navy, but was not called up till the end of 1915. In the meantime he served as third officer of the troopships Willochra and Tofua, leaving to join the Navy in January 1916 as second mate of the Hebbern Jan.

Commissioned a Sub-Lieutenant in the Royal Naval Reserve on 19 April 1916, he attended a gunnery course before being appointed to HMS Sabrina on 11 June 1916. Later he served in HMS Idaho before transferring to HMS Helgoland Morley as second in command on 6 September 1916. Recognised by the Navy for distinction, he received rapid promotion to Lieutenant in command of HMS Prize on 5 February 1917, and was made Lieutenant-Commander on 25 April 1917.

Sanders was awarded the Victoria Cross on 30 April 1917, while in command of HMS Prize, a three-masted topsail schooner. Originally called HMS First Prize, because she was the first vessel captured from the Germans, Prize was one of the famous mystery or “Q” ships of the First World War. As the operation of these ships was highly secret, the official announcement of the Victoria Cross award in the London Gazette contained only 19 words: “In recognition of his conspicuous gallantry, consummate coolness, and skill in command of one of H.M. Ships in action”.

HMS Prize was on patrol south of the Irish coast at lat. 49.44 N, long. 11.42 W, when she was sighted and engaged by a German submarine, U-93, commanded by Lieutenant-Commander Freiherr von Spiegel. The “panic party” launched a boat and pulled clear of the Prize, which was shelled for half an hour at a range of 3,000 yards. The ship was hit many times, being holed at the waterline in three places and the engine room set on fire, but Sanders held his fire till the submarine moved in for the kill. When the enemy had closed to 80 yards, Sanders gave the order to fire and ran up the White Ensign. At that range every shell was a hit and the submarine commander altered course to escape, but shortly afterwards was knocked overboard by the body of one of his men who had been hit by a shell. When the submarine was 200 yards from Prize, a shell took effect on her propulsion; she lost way, stopped, settled down by the stern till the bow pointed straight up, and then sank. The “panic-party” picked up the submarine commander and two others of his crew and returned to the Prize, where all hands were quickly engaged in ensuring the safety of the ship. Sanders, who had been cool and resourceful in action and had moved around his ship out of sight to encourage his gun crews, proved equally capable and resourceful in directing the emergency repairs to Prize, which reached port in two days' steaming on one auxiliary engine, the other having been damaged beyond repair in the action with the submarine.

The U-93 was claimed as sunk, as everyone believed was the case, but her second in command managed to regain control of the stricken submarine and brought it safely home to Germany, where no doubt he gave an accurate description of Prize and her tactics against submarines.

Sanders was also awarded the Distinguished Service Order for another action against a German submarine on 12 June 1917, but he was lost at sea before it was gazetted.

On 13 August 1917 Prize was again on patrol, this time with an escorting British submarine, D-8, which remained submerged and only made contact with Prize at night under cover of darkness. During the day Prize twice sighted a German periscope, but the submarine did not surface. The commander of the submarine, U-48, having checked the Prize's course and speed, waited till the moon rose that night and stalked her for a torpedo attack. At 1.30 a.m. on the following morning, the escorting British submarine saw Prize blow up and was unable to find any survivors.

There are many memorials to Sanders, a collection of photographs and his citations at Takapuna School, and an art bronze tablet in the church at Milford Haven, Prize's home port while patrolling. The Sanders Memorial Scholarship at the University of Auckland is tenable by sons or daughters of members of the Royal Navy or the Mercantile Marine. The best-known memorial is the Sanders Cup for interprovincial competition between 14–ft centreboard X-class yachts.

by Capt. Geoffrey Troughear Stagg, F.R.N.S.N.Z., R.N.Z.A. (retired), formerly President of the Royal Numismatic Society of New Zealand, Wellington.

• London Gazette, 22 Jun 1917
• Auckland Star, 30 Sep 1957.

Descriptive

Western Samoa is about 1,800 miles north-east of Auckland, New Zealand. The total land area of 1,090 sq. miles comprises two large islands, Upolu and Savai'i, and two small islands, Manono and Apolima. Apia, the capital and main port, has a population of 25,000 and stands on the northern coast of Upolu. The Samoan islands have rugged volcanic cores, the highest mountain peak rising to 6,094 ft. The tropical climate is equable, the mean daily temperature being 80°F and the average annual rainfall 112 in. Hurricanes are rare, but severe storms occasionally occur in the wet season between October and March.

The Samoans are Polynesians and of the Christian faith, most being adherents of the London Missionary Society. At the most recent census (25 September 1961) the population was 114,427, of which 82,479 lived in Upolu, Manono, and Apolima, and 31,948 in Savaii. There are no towns, apart from Apia, the majority of the population living in 400 foreshore villages. The basis of Samoan society is the “aiga” or extended family. The family head is known as the “matai” and is selected by members of the family.

Western Samoa has an agricultural economy, the three main export crops being bananas, copra, and cocoa. The value of these exports (£N.Z.) in recent years is shown in the following table:

	1954	1957	1961
Bananas	300,259	370,316	644,495
Copra	954,284	806,471	672,899
Cocoa	937,681	648,562	597,592

In 1961 exports totalled £1,962,531 and imports £2,536,188. The main imports included cotton piece goods, meat, sugar, and motor vehicles. With assets totalling £1,000,000, the Western Samoa Trust Estates Corporation is the most important agricultural project in the country; copra, coffee, and cocoa are produced on 40,000 acres, which also support over 9,000 cattle. Some of the profits are devoted to the social and economic welfare of the Samoan people. Village life is based on subsistence planting and fishing, the principal subsistence crops being taro, yams, breadfruit, and pawpaws. There is little millable timber and no valuable minerals in Western Samoa. Manufacturing is very limited in scope.

The Apia Hospital and 15 out-station hospitals and dispensaries are the focal points of a comprehensive free health service. There are over 120 Government primary schools and several secondary, vocational, and mission schools. Education is free, but not compulsory. About 100 Samoans are studying in New Zealand under New Zealand Government scholarship aid.

Steps to Independence

New Zealand's association with Western Samoa dates from 29 August 1914, when she supplanted the German administration by military control. During New Zealand's military occupation the ordinances and policy of the former German administration were continued under a military administrator. A civil administration was established in May 1920 and New Zealand's mandate was confirmed by the League of Nations Council on 17 December 1920. A New Zealand Administrator was appointed, charged with the executive government of the territory. An advisory Legislative Council consisting of six official, four Samoan, and two elected European members was established. Two “fautua” (official Samoan advisors, representatives of the traditional high chiefly lines of Samoa) and a “Fono of Faipule”, a body of 41 Samoan district representatives, also acted as advisers to the Administrator.

Between 1926 and 1936 a programme of civil disobedience was organised and became known as the “Mau”. (Part of its origins may be traced to Samoan discontent over the loss of certain high titles.) It took the form of an “unofficial opposition” to the Administration and was allowed to wax and wane. Rather than being a Samoan Nationalist movement, the Mau has been regarded as a reflection of factionalism, or a traditional Samoan lack of national unity.

In December 1946 the United Nations General Assembly approved of a new trusteeship agreement for Western Samoa. In the terms of this agreement New Zealand was charged with promoting “the political, economic, social and educational advancement of the inhabitants and their progressive development towards self-government or independence”. In November 1946 a Fono of all Samoa was convened and from it emerged a petition to the United Nations that Samoa be granted self-government and that New Zealand would see fit to act as protector and adviser to Samoa, as England was to Tonga. As a result of this petition a United Nations Mission visited Western Samoa in July-August 1947. In its report of the same year the Mission concluded that the Samoans were not at that stage capable of assuming, without outside help, the full responsibility of the government of their country. It recommended, however, that New Zealand should make an immediate start in training Western Samoans for self-government by setting up the necessary institutions. Thus modern political activity began in Western Samoa.

In its Samoa Amendment Act of 1947 New Zealand laid down the first constitutional steps which eventually took the territory to full internal self-government. A Council of State was established, consisting of the New Zealand High Commissioner and three Samoan Fautua, who met informally for discussions in which the Fautua advised the High Commissioner on executive government.

A Legislative Assembly was also set up under the Act. The Assembly consisted of the Council of State, 11 members nominated by the Fono of Faipule (which had been established under German administration and consisted of “matai” or Samoan title holders from 41 districts, and which was retained under this Act), five elected European members, and six official members – a total membership of 26. The official membership consisted of the Secretary to the Government, the Secretary of Samoan Affairs, the Treasurer, the Crown Solicitor, the Chief Medical Officer, and the Director of Education. The new Legislative Assembly assumed control of the territory's finances and was given wide legislative powers.

In March 1953 an Executive Council was established to assist and advise the High Commissioner and the Administration in the routine problems of executive government. The Executive Council met weekly and consisted of the High Commissioner and the Samoan Fautua, three Samoan members of the Legislative Assembly, one European M.L.A., and three official members (the Secretary to the Government, the Treasurer, and the Attorney-General).

The New Zealand Government White Paper of 18 March 1953 became a blueprint for the accelerated political development of the country. Known as the “Development Plan”, the paper recognised three bases for sound future political development:

1. “A strong, responsible and representative central government whose authority is accepted by the community, and which is Samoan in outlook, personnel and in the basis of its power.

2. “A united population, comprising all Samoan citizens regardless of race.

3. “The administrative machinery, the institutions and the knowledge necessary for the solution of the political, social and economic problems that will come in the next generation.”

The White Paper called for a constitutional convention representing all sections of the Samoan community, to consider a constitutional plan for the future self-governing State. It also included a frame work for future economic development (with emphasis on economic, aerial, and soil surveys), local government, vocational training, and accelerated education. An important part of the paper provided for the transfer to the people of Western Samoa as a going concern the New Zealand Government's business and plantation organisation, viz, the New Zealand Reparation Estates, whose assets were the greatest in the territory. The Western Samoa Trust Estates Corporation was thus established under the control of a local Board of Directors. In 1954 Executive Councillors were allocated portfolios and this introduction of an “associate member” system served as a training ground for future government on a full ministerial basis.

The Constitutional Convention was held in November-December 1954. Its recommendations laid down a realistic policy for accelerated political, social, and economic development, leading to full internal self-government five years later. The New Zealand Government's future policy was set out in a memorandum of 26 December 1955. Commenting on both, the then High Commissioner stated: “Western Samoa's course is now charted clearly for her to follow, while New Zealand will always be watching and guiding, and willing to listen to any suggestions for change. This course protects the interests of all whose home is in Western Samoa, regardless of their race… these proposals for Constitutional Development constitute an act of faith on the part of New Zealand — faith that Western Samoa will rise to meet her destiny and thus justify the hopes of those who wish her well”. By an amendment to the Samoa Act in 1957 New Zealand increased the powers of the Executive Council to enable it to function as a Council of Ministers, and added one Samoan and one European member. Samoan membership of the Legislative Assembly was increased to 41 out of a total of 47, and the Fono of Faipule was abolished. The Council of State was withdrawn from the Legislative Assembly in 1958 and the Minister of Economic Development became the first leader of Government business. In January 1959 a Working Committee on Self-government was established to work out a draft constitution. In October of that year full cabinet government was inaugurated, the Hon. Fiame Mata'afa F. M. II becoming Western Samoa's first Prime Minister.

The constitution of the new State was adopted by a Constitutional Convention which met in August 1960. The results of a United Nations plebiscite, which was held in May 1961, revealed that an over whelming majority of the Samoan people had voted in favour of adopting the new constitution and of Western Samoa's becoming a fully independent State. The Sixteenth Trusteeship Council of the United Nations agreed with the wishes of the Samoan people and on 1 January 1962, under the New Zealand Independence of Western Samoa Act of 1961, Western Samoa became a fully independent Polynesian State. On 1 August 1962 a Treaty of Friendship was signed between the Governments of Western Samoa and New Zealand.

by Selwyn Digby Wilson, B.A., Department of Island Territories, Wellington.

The Salvation Army believes: (1) the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments were given by inspiration of God and that they only constitute the Divine rule of Christian faith and practice; (2) there is only one God who is infinitely perfect, the Creator, Preserver, and Governor of all things, and who is the only proper object of religious worship; (3) there are three persons in the Godhead – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost undivided in essence and coequal in power and glory; (4) in the person of Jesus Christ the Divine and human natures are united so that He is truly and properly God and truly and properly man; (5) our first parents were created in a state of innocence but by their disobedience they lost their purity and happiness, and that in consequence of their fall all men have become sinners totally depraved and as such are justly exposed to the wrath of God; (6) the Lord Jesus Christ has by His suffering and death made an atonement for the whole world so that whosoever will may be saved; (7) repentance toward God, faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, and regeneration by the Holy Spirit are necessary to salvation; (8) we are justified by grace through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ; he that believeth hath the witness in himself; (9) continuance in a state of salvation depends upon continued obedient faith in Christ; (10) it is the privilege of all believers to be “wholly sanctified” that their “whole spirit and soul and body may be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess. v. 23); and (11) in the immortality of the soul, in the resurrection of the body, in the general judgment at the end of the world, in the eternal happiness of the righteous, and in the endless punishment of the wicked.

The Army is characterised by perpetual open-air evangelism; non-sacramental theology; equal opportunity for men and women to preach the Gospel; control from international headquarters in London through territorial leaders, each territory being in every way equal to all others; and the financing of missionary activity shared by all through a central “Self Denial Fund”.

The Salvation Army has published a weekly paper, the War Cry. since 1883, with the exception of a short period during the Second World War, when it was published fortnightly.

by Alfred James Gilliard, formerly Territorial Commander, New Zealand Salvation Army.

The year 1963 was the eightieth anniversary of the Army in New Zealand. In June 1965 there were 387 active-service officers divided into five divisions, 97 corps, 70 outposts and one training college. The Army social institutions run the following:

Children's and infants' homes	7
Farms	2
Sanatorium for alcoholics (men)	1
Social-service centres	2
Eventide homes (men)	6
Students' hostel	1
People's palaces and guest houses	4
Hostel and clinic for alcoholics	1
Hostel for Maori youths	1
Maternity homes and hospitals	6
Samaritan centres	4
Emergency lodges	3
Rehabilitation home	1
Eventide homes (women)	8
Young women's hostel	1

Each corps is a church unit designed for evangelism by all members, with provision for all ages, from “cradle roll” to “promotion to glory” (the Salvationist's term for death). New Zealand Salvationism is characterised by high standards in brass band and vocal music, a strong interest in overseas missions with many members serving there, a rich family life, and a variety of social endeavour.

Unpaid office holders in 1965
Local officers (laymen holding responsibility in evangelistic centres)	992
Bandsmen	1,061
Songsters	1,091
Child or youth leaders	979
Number of social institutions	41

With this success in Dunedin, Pollard quickly moved off to Auckland to start the war there (23 April), and thence to Christchurch, cabling to William Booth: “Dunedin Auckland blazing Christchurch shortly reinforce sharp”. Wellington first heard the Salvationists from the stage of the Princess Theatre, Tory Street, on Sunday 17 June. The first issue of the War Cry appeared on 16 June. As in Britain, compassionate women soon began to take needy women and girls into their homes for spiritual and physical care, just as a humble East Ender, a Mrs Cotrell, had laid the foundation of the Army's international social operations by taking street girls into her own home in Christian Street, Whitechapel. Rescue homes were opened in Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin. Auckland's Prison Gate Brigade and Labour Bureau (1884) founded the extensive and varied social work of the Army in New Zealand. By the close of 1884 there were 30 corps and over 60 full-time officers.

The first of a long series of Court cases over the holding of street meetings occurred in Waimate in January 1885. Two men, who refused to pay fines, spent a week in prison and were met on release by a large crowd of Salvationists with a “war chariot”, in which they rode to a large “praise” meeting. Many other imprisonments followed, until a rising tide of public appreciation of the Salvationists' work ended the difficulty. Meanwhile, experiments in organisation, which more than once took the administration centre to Australia, ended with a complete territorial system in New Zealand. At the present time the Army is concerned with work among the Maori people, farm training for new settlers, migration schemes, care of alcoholics, work among the troops, and many other activities of a social nature.

In April 1882 Arabella Valpy, daughter of William H. Valpy, a wealthy pioneer settler of Otago, wrote to William Booth in London asking him to send some of his officers to New Zealand, which was then in an economic depression with accompanying poverty and unrest. Arabella Valpy had read of the work which William Booth had begun among similarly distressed people in the East End of London in 1865, a movement which led to the establishment of the Salvation Army. John Brame, an Auckland printer, had also written to William Booth. In November 1882 two officers, Captain Wright and Lieutenant Pollard, both under 20 years of age, were commissioned to found the Salvation Army in New Zealand. (At the same meeting other Salvationists were sent to the United States, India, Canada, Sweden, and South Africa.) With one or two helpers recruited when they called at Melbourne, they arrived at Port Chalmers on 27 March 1883, where they were welcomed by a handful of supporters. The press ridiculed their intentions. England had sent New Zealand its thistles, sparrows, and rabbits: a further scourge was not needed.

Pollard hired the Temperance Hall in Dunedin for three years at £300 per annum. He had only 30s. in his pocket. The first meetings were held on Sunday, 1 April, in the hall and at the fountain (Cargill's Monument), Dunedin, now marked by a plaque as the spot where the Army “opened fire”. Events closely paralleled those in Britain. Stalwarts joined on the first night and remained faithful to the cause. Crowds packed the unusually informal meetings where converts gave immediate evidence of changed lives. There was rowdyism, with “skeleton” (hooligan) armies; police action in favour of law and order; warm support by discerning churchmen; and the rapid growth of corps of happy soldiers.

(1862–1924).

Jurist and Judge

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

John William Salmond was born in the town of North Shields, Northumberland, England, on 3 December 1862, the eldest son of William Salmond who was at that time serving as Presby terian minister in that town. In 1855 his father was appointed professor of theology in the Presbyterian Church of Otago and Southland and he accompanied his parents to Dunedin where he completed his schooling at Otago Boys' High School (1876–79) and then attended Otago University. In 1882 Salmond graduated from that University with a B.A. degree and the following year he proceeded to M.A. At the conclusion of his studies there, he received a scholarship for study at University College, London, where he obtained the further degree of LL.B. and was elected a fellow of the college.

Salmond returned to New Zealand in 1887 and, after his admission as a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court, commenced practice in Temuka. For 10 years he continued in private practice, but in 1897 he was appointed professor of law at the University of Adelaide where he remained until early 1906 when he left to return to a similar position at Victoria University College, Wellington. In 1907 Salmond was appointed to the newly created position of Counsel to the Law Drafting Office where he remained for four years, being raised in 1911 to the high post of Solicitor-General. During his term of this office he was honoured with a knighthood in 1918 and two years later was further honoured by elevation to the Bench of the Supreme Court.

In 1921 Salmond was appointed by the Government to represent the Dominion at the International Conference held at Washington (1921–22) to consider proposals for disarmament at an international level. Upon his return Sir John Salmond resumed his judicial duties but in August 1924 he suffered a heart attack and died in Wellington on 19 September of that year.

Whilst in England, Sir John Salmond had met and married Annie Bryham, daughter of James Guthrie, of Newcastle-on-Tyne. They had two sons – the elder of whom was killed in the First World War -and one daughter.

Although Sir John Salmond practised for some 10 years in New Zealand as a barrister and solicitor, it is not upon this that his importance and significance rests; for, like another great New Zealand Judge and jurist, Sir Joshua Williams, his talents never demonstrated themselves in the ordinary round of practice as a legal practitioner; it was only when he rose to other positions that they received their full scope.

Whilst at Temuka, Salmond had published two short texts on aspects of jurisprudence – Essays in Jurisprudence and Legal History (1891), and The First Principles of Jurisprudence (1893) – but it was not until 1902 that his first comprehensive treatise on jurisprudence was published. In 1907 Salmond followed with an important tract on the law of torts. These two last-mentioned texts have been recognised as classics amongst legal writings, and for the former he was awarded the Swiney Gold Cup, and for the latter Harvard University bestowed on him the Ames Medal for the most noted legal treatise published in the world over a period of five years. Moreover, the fact that they are still being re-edited and published today is an indication of their worth -there have been 11 editions of his treatise on jurisprudence, the most recent being published in 1957 under the editorship of Glanville Williams. There have also been 12 editions of his work on torts, the most recent being published in 1957 under the editorship of R. F. V. Heuston. At the time of his death, Salmond had prepared, but not completed, notes for a treatise on the law of contract; these, completed and added to by P. H. Winfield, were published posthumously in 1927 and have taken their stand alongside the other two works, the second edition having been published in 1945 under the editorship of Professor J. Williams.

As a ‘jurist, Sir John Salmond is clearly unsurpassed so far as New Zealand is concerned; however, his prominence in this field is not restricted to this Dominion, but is acknowledged in England and other Commonwealth countries, and his treatises are recognised as amongst the leading contributions in their respective fields. His death was noted by the English jurist Frederick Pollock in the English Law Quarterly Review, a distinction which very few, if any, other New Zealand Judges have attained.

Whilst Salmond's reputation now rests primarily on his status as a jurist, his significance in New Zealand life was more extensive during his lifetime. As a teacher of law at Victoria University College he was very highly regarded by students and the profession alike for his lucid and interesting expositions of the complexities of the law, and for his human kindness and interest. In 1907 when the post of Counsel to the Law Drafting Office was created, Salmond brought to that office and the legislation he supervised, the same qualities of legal erudition and clarity of expression. When Salmond was appointed Solicitor-General as head of the Crown Law Office, the opportunity was taken to organise the Office and greatly increase its functions so that not only did it perform its traditional function of advising the Government on legal matters but it also undertook the conduct of all Crown legal work in the Dominion (including criminal work in Wellington), as well as controlling the drafting of legislation which Salmond brought with him from the Law Drafting Office. Moreover, during much of Salmond's period as Solicitor-General, the Government was engaged in a war on a scale never before witnessed or indeed envisaged, and it was much to the advantage of New Zealand that it had at that time such talent and ability in the advising of Government and in the formulating of the novel legislation required, in those difficult years.

Sir Francis Dillon Bell, who was Attorney-General for much of this period, had a very high regard for Salmond's ability in his position as chief permanent legal advisor to the Government. In 1918 the drafting of statutes, and in 1920 the conduct of criminal work, were removed from the Crown Law Office so that it was during Salmond's term as Solicitor-General that this office attained its greatest extent. At the International Conference on Disarmament in 1921, Sir John Salmond was recognised as being one of the most outstanding representatives present and the report to the Government which he presented on his return was regarded as a very lucid and intelligent appraisement of the situation.

It is all the more unfortunate, therefore, that his tenure on the Supreme Court Bench was so short. During the period he held that office, however, he easily distinguished himself as the epitome of the judicial qualities of courtesy and impartiality, legal knowledge and acumen, and his judgments are still regarded as amongst the soundest and clearest in the legal history of the Dominion; in particular his judgment in Taylor v. Combined Buyers Ltd. in 1924 has remained the guiding light for the interpretation of some of the most significant provisions of the Sale of Goods Act 1908.

Sir John Salmond devoted his talents to his professional duties in their various forms and it appears that he had no great interest in local or national politics, or in any purely social or recreational activities apart from the study of literature. About 1920 Salmond collected random thoughts on different topics into a book for private circulation under the title of My Son, Said the Philosopher.

As a man, it appears that Sir John Salmond was of a philosophical and scholarly temperament and that his manner was somewhat reserved amongst strangers, although upon close acquaintance he showed himself to be a generous, kindly, and sincere friend, with a sense of humour and wit. He was a brilliant conversationalist but fundamentally he was a man of simple pleasures, who found his relaxation in his home and amongst his select friends. He was indeed very much cast in the mould of the traditional intelligent Scotsman, with a keen intellect, a great capacity for hard work, an honest and simple heart, and a reserved manner. It is significant and indicative of his character as a man that he excelled as a jurist and Judge and not as a legal practitioner, and that his interests and talents were all directed to the fulfilment of his official duties and to the study of literature, and not to political or purely social activities.

by Donald Edgar Paterson, B.A., LL.M.(N.Z.), LL.M., J.S.D.(YALE), Lecturer in Jurisprudence and Constitutional Law, Victoria University of Wellington.

Evening Post, 20, 22, 29 Sep 1924 (Obits); Dominion, 20, 22, 30 Sep 1924 (Obits); Otago Daily Times, 20, 22, 30 Sep 1924 (Obits).