The Royal Standard – the personal flag of the Sovereign – may not be flown in New Zealand unless the Queen herself is present. The New Zealand armed services, however, are permitted to use it at parades held on the day of and in honour of the Queen's birthday. The conditions under which it may be flown are laid down in the Manual of Ceremonial.

On 11 October 1962 the Queen announced the adoption of a special personal flag for use on her tour of New Zealand early in 1963 (D). The flag is based upon the New Zealand Coat of Arms of 1911; however, there are certain minor differences between the published design and the flag used. The most important of these is in the depiction of the stars of the Southern Cross. The design shows these as white on a blue field while the flag shows them as being red and white as in the New Zealand Ensign. The wreath and monogram are gold. All lines on the flag and in the devices are picked out in brown and in some places this appears heavy enough to be called fimbriation. The new flag is symbolic of the fact that the Queen is Queen of New Zealand, and it flies whenever she is present in this country. The Queen has personal flags for two other Commonwealth countries – Canada and Sierra Leone.

The Governor's flag, originally instituted by the Admiralty, was intended for maritime use exclusively. Prior to 1874 colonial Governors possessed no official flag and there were no clear-cut rules in the matter. In 1874, however, the Admiralty directed that colonial Governors should fly, when travelling at sea, “the Union Jack, with the arms or badge of the colony emblazoned in the centre thereof on a white shield surrounded by a green garland”. Sir James Fergusson announced in the Gazette that the badge to be worn in the Union Jack used by the Governor of New Zealand when he embarked in any vessel “shall be the Southern Cross as represented by four five-pointed red stars emblazoned on the white shield aforesaid, and the monogram ‘NZ’ in red letters in the centre of the Southern Cross”. Succeeding Governors found it convenient to use this flag on shore and it became accepted as the official vice-regal flag (A17). In 1907, following New Zealand's promotion from “colonial” to “Dominion” status, New Zealand ministers asked that the garland of laurels should be replaced by one of fern leaves. With this alteration, the flag continued to be used by successive Governors until about 1935.

In January 1931 a new vice-regal flag was designed, partly in order to meet South African objections to the use of the Union Jack, and partly to symbolise the Governor-General's new status as the King's personal representative. This was a uniform design for all Dominions and consisted of a “Royal blue ground on which is the Royal Crest in gold, with the name of the Dominion in gold beneath”. As neither Lord Bledisloe nor his ministers were sympathetic to the change, the flag was not flown until after Lord Galway's arrival.

The Governor-General's flag (A18) occupies the same position in New Zealand that the Royal Standard does in England. It is the personal flag of the Governor-General for the time being; it is flown on all occasions when he is present and over Government House when he is in residence. Whenever the Governor-General's office falls vacant, or is vacated, the Administrator of the Government is entitled to fly the Governor-General's flag. The deputy of the Governor-General uses the New Zealand Ensign.

The New Zealand Ensign

From 1840 until after the passing of the Imperial “Colonial Naval Defence Act, 1865”, New Zealand possessed no flag of its own, but used either the Union Jack for all occasions ashore or, if the occasion was a maritime one, the appropriate British naval or maritime ensign. In 1865, because there was considerable uncertainty about the question, the Admiralty laid down the following rules:

At that time the New Zealand Government possessed ships in neither category, but on 10 January 1867, when four small steamers were in commission, Sir George Grey issued a proclamation appointing “the letter NZ in red, … surrounded by a margin of white” to be used as the colony's badge on the blue ensign (A5). This arrangement was temporary, and in 1869 Sir George Bowen deemed it “expedient to adopt a permanent device”. Consequently, on 23 October 1869 it was proclaimed that:

In 1900 the Government decided to adopt this flag for use on shore. The New Zealand Ensign Act of 1900 was passed by Parliament, but was disallowed on a technicality. A new Act was therefore passed and became law on 12 June 1902. In it the New Zealand Ensign was described as “the blue ensign of the Royal Naval Reserve, having on the fly thereof the Southern Cross as represented by four five-pointed red stars with white borders”. On 27 June 1902 the Minister of Marine gazetted a description of the new flag (A8), together with instructions about the sizes and positions of the stars. In this connection it may be mentioned that, while the 1900 and 1901 Acts were apparently intended merely to extend the use of the New Zealand flag (gazetted in 1869 exclusively for maritime use) for general occasions ashore, the Gazette notice of 1902, in effect, proclaimed a redesigned flag (C). Alteration was made in the size and position of the stars which, instead of being made uniform in size and crowded into the space on the Blue Ensign permitted by the Admiralty instructions, were now expanded and extended beyond the original area. The Shipping and Seamen's Act of 1908 repealed the New Zealand Ensign Act, but the sections concerning the national flag were re-enacted and this law governs the use of the flag today.

The New Zealand Ensign Act recognised the flag as “the flag of the colony for general use on shore within the colony and on all vessels belonging to the Government of New Zealand”. It is therefore the national flag and should be used at all times in preference to all other flags, including the Union Jack, which is now generally accepted to be the national flag of the United Kingdom. While the use of the flag is apparently unrestricted, it is provided that anyone who defaces it will be subject to certain legal penalties.

The White Ensign

Under the 1869 proclamation, New Zealand naval vessels were entitled to wear the British Blue Ensign with the badge of the colony in the fly. Since the formation of the Royal New Zealand Navy, and in order to show its close connection with the Royal Navy, the British White Ensign (A7) is worn. In peacetime this is usually worn on the New Zealand Station from 8 a.m. local time until sunset, but in wartime it is worn continuously. It is also worn continuously on any ship flying the Royal Standard and on any vessel escorting a ship flying the Royal Standard or the standard of a foreign Head of State.

The Red Ensign

By the Merchant Shipping (Colours) Act of 1889, colonial merchant ships were permitted to fly the Red Ensign as used by British merchant ships, with the badge of the colony in the fly (A3). On 7 February 1899, by Admiralty Warrant, this was extended to New Zealand registered merchant ships. This remained in force until 1903, when the Shipping and Seamen's Act provided that the “Red Ensign usually worn by merchant ships, with the addition in the fly thereof of the Southern Cross as represented by four five-pointed white stars …. is hereby declared to be the proper colours for all merchant ships registered in New Zealand.” (A9)

The Blue Ensign

Certain New Zealand yacht clubs hold Admiralty Warrants permitting them to fly the British Blue Ensign. The Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, Auckland, and the Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Squadron, Wellington, are the only two New Zealand clubs that hold such warrants, and every yacht flying this ensign must carry the warrant on board. The Royal Akarana Yacht Club, Auckland, holds a warrant entitling it to fly the Blue Ensign defaced by the club's badge. These are the only instances where the Blue Ensign may be flown in New Zealand.

The Naval Board Flag

This is worn continuously at a mast above Navy Office, Wellington, and is only struck by order of the Naval Board. It is also flown on ships when Board members travel. It is flown at half mast at the death of the Sovereign, of the Governor-General of New Zealand, or of a member of the Naval Board when it is rehoisted at sunset. The Naval Board flag is also lowered during the funeral of any of the above. The devices are in gold.

The Naval Secretary's Flag

The personal flag of the Naval Secretary is the same as that of the Naval Board, but with the addition of a bordure on which are countercharged the colours of the field.

The Royal New Zealand Air Force Ensign

This is hoisted daily at Royal New Zealand Air Force establishments and is also flown on New Zealand Air Force planes carrying heads of foreign States, Governors-General of Commonwealth countries the Prime Minister and Cabinet ministers, the Chiefs of Staff, ambassadors, and other distinguished persons (A11).

The New Zealand Civil Air Ensign

This was instituted on 16 November 1938 by an exercise of the Royal prerogative. Lord Galway submitted the original design to King George VI and, upon his Majesty's pleasure being made known, the flag became “recognised as the proper national colours to be flown by British aircraft registered in New Zealand” (A12).

The New Zealand Customs Department Flag

This is flown over the HM Customs Department's Building in Wellington and consists of the letters “H.M.C.” in bold white capitals beneath the Union Jack on the New Zealand Ensign (A13).

The New Zealand Police Department Flag

This was first instituted in 1961 and is flown at every headquarters station in New Zealand, or where a commissioned officer is in charge (A14).

Flags of Government Agencies

Only two Government-owned agencies use distinctive flags. These are: (A15) the National Airways Corporation (the letters are pink); and (A16) the National Provident Fund.

Abel Tasman, the first European to visit New Zealand, flew the flag of the Dutch East India Company. This was a horizontal tricolor, orange, white, and pale blue (the old national flag of the Netherlands), with a black monogram consisting of the letters “V.O.C.” (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie) on the white strip (A1).

When Captain Cook visited New Zealand, he flew the old Union Jack (dating from 12 April 1606) which combined the cross of St George with that of St. Andrew (A2). The present day Union Jack, with the cross of St. Patrick added, was not instituted until 1801.

The Church Missionary Society flew a distinctive flag over its missions before 1840, and this, or a very close variant, was adopted by the independent tribes in 1834. Baron De Thierry used a large “blue and crimson” silken flag, but this was destroyed during the Hone Heke troubles in 1845, and no description appears to have survived.

Flag of the Independent Tribes of New Zealand (1834): Prior to the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, New Zealand had no status in international law. In 1830 the Sir George Murray, a vessel built in New Zealand and sailing under no flag, was seized by Sydney customs authorities on the grounds that her register was not legal. Busby, the British Resident at the Bay of Islands, therefore suggested that the Maori chiefs should select a flag to be recognised by British authorities as the national flag of the New Zealand tribes. The first design, submitted by naval authorities in Sydney, was rejected on the grounds that it had no red in it – as red was regarded as a sign of rank by the Maoris. In 1834 a choice was made at a meeting of Maori chiefs at Waitangi presided over by the British Resident. The flag was hoisted and HMS Alligator, which was standing off shore, honoured it with a 21-gun salute. The design was later approved by King William IV, and the Vice-Admiral, East Indies Station, was instructed to recognise it as the flag of a sovereign State.

The flag, measuring 16 ft × 10 ft, consisted of a red St. George's cross on a white ground. In the upper canton next the staff, a red St. George's cross with black fimbriation was surrounded by a blue ground pierced with four eight-point stars (B). Known as the “Flag of the Independent Tribes of New Zealand”, it remained the national ensign until 1840, when the Union Jack superseded it. The flag was gazetted in New South Wales on 19 August 1835 where the description omitted the black fimbriation, substituting white instead, and made the stars six point instead of eight point. This mistake, of course, could not invalidate the chiefs' selection, but the error has been perpetuated in a number of ways. The New Zealand Company flew a flag over its Petone settlement, which was correct according to the New South Wales' Gazette notice. In 1858 the Shaw Savill and Albion Shipping Co. adopted a house flag similar to the design gazetted in New South Wales, but omitted the white fimbriation. While this is a legitimate example of “differencing”, the Shaw Savill flag (A23) is a variation, not of the flag of the independent tribes, but of the erroneous New South Wales version. As late as 1844 the flag of the independent tribes was flown by Tuhawaiki at Ruapuke Island to show that he did not subscribe to the Treaty of Waitangi.

Towards the end of the nineteenth century, a series of maritime flags were proposed for the constituent states of an Imperial Confederation. Their basis was the Union Jack suitably quartered to indicate ships of the several States. New Zealand's distinguishing badge was to be Triangulum Australis, consisting of three five-point red stars on a white field in the lower left-hand quarter of the Union Jack (A4).

Since the first European contact over 300 years ago, there have been upwards of 1,500 flags flown in New Zealand. The discoverers – representing many countries – missionaries, early whaling and trading companies, colonial and imperial troop formations, Maori political and religious movements, and the various Government and local authorities have all possessed distinctive flags. Among the non-official organisations and bodies possessing flags may be listed shipping companies, some cities, sports clubs, gentlemen's clubs, some commercial enterprises, several religious denominations, and at least one political party. For convenience the field is here divided into nine categories: (a) Pre-1840 and historical flags; (b) New Zealand Government flags; (c) The Governor's standards; (d) Maori “King” Movement flags; (e) Hauhau rebel flags; (f) Te Kooti's flags; (g) Maori “Queen” flags; (h) Shipping companies' flags; (i) Companies', churches', and club flags. These by no means constitute a complete record and several categories have been excluded, such as flags from New Zealand's dependencies, regimental flags, uniformed youth or other movements' flags, sports clubs, and the like. With the exception of Government and vice-regal flags, only examples illustrative of each category are shown.

(1862–1917).

Blacksmith and world champion boxer.

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

Robert Fitzsimmons was born in the Cornish village of Helston, England, in 1862, and as a child came to New Zealand with his family. His father settled in Timaru where he carried on the family craft of blacksmithing. After an elementary education, young Robert joined his father at the forge where he early developed a generous physique. Despite strong parental objections, Fitzsimmons took up boxing in his late teens as his principal diversion and for 10 years was a well-known and popular figure in the amateur ring in South Canterbury, Canterbury, and Otago. His early professional leanings were discouraged by his somewhat puritanical family, and he was 28 when he finally broke away from this restraint and went to America to try his fortune in the ring. He arrived in San Francisco in 1890, and in January of the following year he won the world middleweight championship, a title which he held until 1897 when he beat the Denver champion, James Corbett, in the last minute of a 14-round bout with his famous solar-plexus punch.

In 1899, at the age of 37, he appeared in the heavyweight field, and was soundly beaten by James Jeffries at Coney Island, New York. Quite undismayed he continued as a heavyweight, and when 40 years of age won the world title in 1901, beating Tom Sharkey and Gus Ruhlin in convincing fashion. He held the heavyweight championship until 1903 when he again met Jeffries, and was again completely outclassed. In all, Fitzsimmons fought more than 350 bouts, the last in 1914 at the age of 52, three years before he died of pneumonia in Chicago.

Fitzsimmons was a picturesque figure in the ring and won for himself a wide popularity in his heyday. He was a flamboyant and vigorous fighter, with many of the tricks of the showman, and had a highly developed streak of vanity. He was inordinately proud of his complete lack of scars despite his hundreds of fights, and he always appeared in the ring in heavy woollen underwear in the hope of concealing an odd disparity between his trunk and leg development. Fitzsimmons made a small fortune from boxing but, like many other champions, he was constitutionally incapable of conserving his resources. He had four fairly expensive excursions into the realm of matrimony, and was a prey to every card-sharp and trickster who could get near him. Gambling was a disease with him and at his death he had little to show for a strenuous life in the ring. At the height of his fame he had some success with his book, Physical Culture and Self-Defence, which was published in America in 1901.

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

• South Canterbury, Gillespie, O. A. (1958)
• Famous Prize Fights – or Epics of “the fancy”, Farnol, J. (1928).

(1805–65).

Navigator, meteorologist, Colonial Governor.

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

FitzRoy was born on 5 July 1805 at Ampton Hall, Suffolk, the second son of General Lord Charles FitzRoy by his second marriage. He was a grandson of the Third Duke of Grafton and a descendant of King Charles II. His half-brother was Sir Charles Augustus FitzRoy, Governor of New South Wales, 1846–55, and on his mother's side he was nephew to Lord Castlereagh, to the Third Marquis of Londonderry, and to Field Marshal Lord Hardinge.

After entering the Navy in 1819 FitzRoy was appointed in 1828 to command HMS Beagle, then on a hydrographic survey of Patagonia, Tierra del Fuego, and the Straits of Magellan. This survey ended in 1830, but in 1831 FitzRoy was reappointed to HMS Beagle to continue the survey of these coasts. He sailed from Portsmouth in December 1831 and remained at sea until his return to England in October 1836. During his time at sea FitzRoy completed the survey of the Straits of Magellan, charted a great part of the coasts of South America and fixed the longitude of many secondary meridians. The results of his work were completely successful and proved that, despite his youth, he possessed outstanding qualifications as a navigator, commander, and scientist. The voyage's interest was increased by the presence of Charles Darwin as naturalist, with whom FitzRoy collaborated in the Narrative of the Surveying Voyages of HM Ships “Adventure” and “Beagle”, FitzRoy being responsible for the first two volumes and Darwin for the third. In 1837 FitzRoy was awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Geographical Society for his achievements.

When HMS Beagle made a brief visit to the Bay of Islands in 1835, FitzRoy paid close attention to the work of the Anglican missionaries and what he saw confirmed his predisposition in favour of the operations of the Church Missionary Society. He had strong evangelical beliefs and had for some time been closely interested in the welfare of native races, as was shown by his activities among the natives of Patagonia. His favourable impression of the missionaries' work in New Zealand appeared in his evidence to the Select Committee of the House of Lords appointed in 1838 to investigate the state of New Zealand. There can be no doubt that this testimony by an influential and knowledgeable witness earned for him the lasting gratitude of the Church Missionary Society.

In 1841 as the nominee of the Marquis of Londonderry, FitzRoy made a brief excursion into politics as Conservative member of Parliament for Durham. In 1842 he was appointed Conservator of the Mersey, a post he resigned on his appointment to be Governor of New Zealand on 7 April 1843.

His appointment owed much to the support he received from the Church Missionary Society which, at this time, exerted considerable influence on the Colonial Office. Apart from this, however, FitzRoy seemed to possess all the qualifications for a colonial governor: leadership, ability, intelligence, integrity, and an enlightened attitude towards native races. Others concerned with the welfare of New Zealand, notably the New Zealand Company, welcomed his appointment, which appeared to offer a chance to make a fresh start after the disappointments, mishaps, and misunderstandings that had occurred under Hobson and Shortland.

FitzRoy landed at Auckland on 26 December 1843 and at once took over from Shortland, Administrator since the death of Hobson in 1842. The situation was worse than he had been led to expect: the finances were in a desperate state, discontent among the Maoris was widespread and deep-seated, and many of the settlers had lost confidence in the Government. He summarily dismissed Shortland and appointed Dr Andrew Sinclair as Colonial Secretary in his place. He then almost immediately sailed for Wellington and Nelson, where he judged his attention was most urgently needed.

Here the settlers had been in a state of alarm and excitement since the Wairau “massacre”. They clamoured for protection, and for vengeance if possible, and to occupy the land they had persuaded themselves they had fairly bought. The Maoris, notably Te Rauparaha and Te Rangihaeata, were apprehensive of the settlers' aggressive talk and remained resistant to further occupation of what they considered to be their territory. It was soon obvious to FitzRoy that the settlers were in the wrong, both in their general case for occupying the land and in the particular matter of the Wairau affray. It took moral courage to announce a decision that he knew would be unwelcome, and the settlers' disappointment was not assuaged by FitzRoy's unsparingly candid comments on their intemperate behaviour, by his clear implication that they could not be trusted with arms, and by his refusal to allow them military protection. His decision was just and wise, and he was fully supported by the Colonial Office, but he earned for himself the enmity of the leading southern settlers, such as Domett, and of the New Zealand Company and its powerful English supporters, although he had acted in the settlers' own best interests.

This enmity was soon increased by his handling of the company's land claims, which concerned territory in Wellington, Nelson, Taranaki, Wanganui, Manawatu, and Porirua. These had already been investigated by Land Claims Commissioner Spain, who reported adversely on all the claims except Taranaki, where he awarded the company 60,000 acres. FitzRoy persuaded the reluctant company officials that additional payments for Wellington and Nelson were essential, and on these being made he issued Crown titles to the company, though for amounts of land very much less than what was hoped for. In the case of the Taranaki claim he quashed Spain's award altogether (in August 1844) on the grounds that certain tribal rights had been ignored. These proceedings were a serious blow to the company which, by this time, was in serious financial difficulties, and reinforced the settlers' impression that FitzRoy was more sensitive to Maori grievances and claims than to their own distress. FitzRoy had justice on his side, and his actions averted serious trouble with the Maoris in Taranaki, but he was unconciliatory and appeared unsympathetic to the settlers, whose distress was real and considerable.

FitzRoy then turned his attention to the Government's finances. When he arrived the total assets amounted to only £2,770, and the liabilities to about £24,000, while the revenue for 1844 was expected to fall short of the expenditure by about £8,000. He made attempts to borrow or to secure advances, but on these proving unsuccessful his only alternative to stopping payment was to issue paper money. In doing so he trusted that the current depression would pass and that the development of the country's resources would in the end enable it to maintain itself unaided. The first issue of currency debentures was made in April 1844; by November 1845 debentures totalling £37,000 had been issued. FitzRoy took a serious risk in issuing such a large amount, but his confidence was justified – inflationary tendencies were not seriously noticeable and the most grave distress was averted. This did not prevent local grumbling, and in issuing the debentures FitzRoy was fully aware of the British Government's inevitable disapproval, despite the fact that it had given him no practicable alternative.

Before he left England FitzRoy had been warned of the difficulties surrounding the question of the “old land claims”, i.e., claims made by persons who had bought land direct from the Maoris before the acquisition of British sovereignty. Attempts had been made to settle the claims but these were not wholly successful and the long delays and legal wranglings were upsetting the Maoris. The question was seen as a major cause of unrest and FitzRoy was determined to settle it. His zeal to do good, however, ran away with his judgment and confusion was worse confounded. As in a number of other cases, much of the trouble lay in the lack of able local officials, who were not, with a few notable exceptions, men of high calibre.

Most of these claims, apart from the New Zealand Company's, were for land in the northern parts of New Zealand. It was here that another, but connected, aspect of the land question was becoming increasingly perplexing – the inability of settlers to buy land and of Maoris to sell it. By the terms of the Treaty of Waitangi land could not be bought directly from the Maori owners but only from the Government, which possessed the right of pre-emption. The profit from land sales had been a major source of revenue, but now the Government had no funds with which to pay even the small price it gave for its land purchases, consequently it had no land to sell to impatient would-be buyers. In addition, the Maoris had become resentful of the profits made by the Government and were eager to sell land on the open market for what it would fetch. To settle these grievances FitzRoy, in March 1844, made the experiment of waiving the Crown's right of pre-emption and permitting direct negotiations with Maori owners, provided the purchasers paid a fee of 10s. an acre to the Government for every acre thus bought. The results were disappointing. To appease the increasingly impatient Maoris FitzRoy took the risk, in October 1844, of lowering the fee to 1d. an acre. This boosted sales, but it gave FitzRoy's critics a good deal of ammunition. It was of more than questionable legality; it opened the way to charges of pandering to speculators and surrendering to Maori threats, and it offended still further the New Zealand Company settlers, whose property it tended to devalue.

As part of his financial measures FitzRoy had increased the Customs duties, but these remained unfruitful and he was beginning to favour their abolition and the substitution of direct property taxation when events in the Bay of Islands decided him. Since 1840 trade here had declined due to the development of other ports; Maori prosperity declined, and for this they blamed the Government and the Customs in particular – symbolic significance was attached to the flagstaff at Russell which was regarded as a sign of British injustice. This distorted view was encouraged by irresponsible local traders who shared in the depression. The general discontent, aggravated by the imposition of higher duties, led many of the local Maoris to support the ambitious Hone Heke, who, in July 1844, cut down the flagstaff as a gesture of defiance. FitzRoy recognised that a crisis in Maori-Pakeha relations had arisen; he mustered what few troops he had but these were insufficient to overawe, much less to overcome a sizable group of determined men aware of the Government's weakness, and he sent urgently to Sydney for more. These were sent on the understanding that they would be immediately returned unless active operations became unavoidable. Lacking a permanent body of troops for defence, FitzRoy fell back on diplomacy and the enlistment of Maori allies. At a meeting at Waimate in September 1844 he secured the allegiance of numerous important chiefs and a promise of their alliance in exchange for the abolition of Customs duties and the reduction of the pre-emption fee from 10s. to ld. an acre. The crisis was averted but FitzRoy recognised that his diplomacy had brought him only a breathing space. It was now clear to him that a large, permanent military force was essential and that day-to-day expedients, conciliation, and appeasement could not bring a lasting settlement of New Zealand's troubles. He requested the Colonial Office urgently to dispatch a force to New Zealand.

Heke remained a centre for disaffection, the Maori allies were not wholly reliable, while the property tax did little to fill the Treasury, due chiefly to the stubborn resistance of the settlers. The feelings of disgruntlement, suspicion, and alarm were inflamed by the arrival in early 1845 of the report of the House of Commons Committee on the state of New Zealand. It supported the New Zealand Company, deplored the Government's failure to assert its right to unoccupied land, and urged the exertion of authority by armed force. This alarmed the Maoris with fears of dispossession and encouraged the attacks on FitzRoy by the company settlers, notable among which was the petition from the Nelson settlers for his recall. Despite an exceptionally sympathetic dispatch from Lord Stanley, the British Government failed to offer any practical help and FitzRoy's position became well nigh impossible. The flagstaff was again cut down and FitzRoy once more sent to Sydney for troops, but before they could arrive in sufficient numbers Heke, on 11 March 1845, sacked and burnt Russell. In April martial law was proclaimed and, troops having arrived, a campaign against Heke was begun. Through inexperience and incompetent leadership, for which FitzRoy cannot be blamed, this failed and demonstrated to the Maoris that British troops could be successfully resisted. In the crisis FitzRoy did not appear at his best, giving way to fears of assassination and Popish plots, all of which were wild exaggerations or completely untrue.

Already the Colonial Office had resolved to replace FitzRoy. This was due to a strong agitation in England led by the New Zealand Company, culminating in an attack on Colonial Office policy in the House of Commons in March 1845. The Government bowed to the storm and in May announced FitzRoy's recall, giving as their reasons his failure to keep the Government fully informed of events, his neglect to raise a militia (which in fact he had done in March 1845), his contempt for instructions in issuing paper money, and his waiver of the Crown's right of pre-emption. He was also charged with lack of judgment and firmness in handling the native question.

Captain Grey arrived in New Zealand in November 1845 and, until their departure on 10 January 1846, FitzRoy and his family lived in Auckland in discomfort and embarrassment. FitzRoy's father-in-law, General O'Brien, had added lustre to the simple FitzRoy ménage in Auckland, and their departure was regretted by those who knew them best. Their uprightness and piety were mocked at by the uncouth, but such high-mindedness was for some time to be rare at Government House.

On his return to England FitzRoy was made Superintendent of the Woolwich Dockyard and for a time commanded HMS Arrogant. In 1850 he retired and settled down to his scientific interests, becoming in 1854 chief of the new meteorological service of the Board of Trade. In this field he did outstanding pioneer work. He was elected fellow of the Royal Society in 1851, promoted to Rear-Admiral in 1857, and to Vice-Admiral in 1863. During a nervous breakdown brought on by overwork he took his own life on 30 April 1865. He was survived by his second wife, Maria Isabella, daughter of J. H. Smyth, a son, Robert, and three daughters. His first wife, Mary Henrietta, daughter of Major-General E. J. O'Brien, died in 1852.

No one could have succeeded in New Zealand if placed in FitzRoy's circumstances. For a start, the instructions he received before leaving England indicate the negative approach of the Colonial Office to an urgent problem – he was not to expect any increase in naval or military forces, and he was not to involve the British Government in any increased expenditure. A vague benevolence and humanitarianism, the difficulties of finding money, troops, and ships, the problem of reconciling the powerful evangelical interest on the one hand and the New Zealand Company party on the other, all combined to prevent a firm line being taken by the British Government.

FitzRoy himself took up an evangelical, missionary approach to his functions – to “do good” was his ambition – but this did not blind him to the need to administer in the light of what was reasonable and possible. He was no doctrinaire. His generous solicitude for the Maoris and his wholesome respect for their strength tended to obscure the needs of the unhappy settlers and the necessity to act with discretion among so many strong conflicting interests. The accusation that he became hysterical in the face of disaster may be true, but, if so, it was nothing to the hysteria shown by the mass of the settlers. He took grave risks and opened himself to the charge of being rash and impulsive, but most of these were inescapable and many were justified. That disaster did not overtake New Zealand long before owes much to his moral courage, fairmindedness, and ability.

by Michael Wordsworth Standish, M.A. (1920–62), late Dominion Chief Archivist, Wellington.

• Official Papers, MSS, etc., National Archives, Wellington
• Crown Colony Government in New Zealand, McLintock, A. H. (1958)
• Hone Heke's Rebellion, Rutherford, J. (1947)
• A History of New Zealand, Sinclair, K. (1959).

(1810–91).

Politician.

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

Sir William Fitzherbert, third son of the Rev. Samuel Fitzherbert, was born at the rectory of Houghton, Dorset, on 15 August 1810. He was educated at Sherbourne Grammar School and the Merchant Taylors' School, and then proceeded to Queen's College, Cambridge, at the age of 18. He had a brilliant career there, taking a double first in classics, senior optime in mathematics. He rowed in the eight in 1832, and excelled as a boxer.

In 1832 he graduated M.A. and became a fellow of Queen's. In that year he went to the Ecole de Medicine in Paris, and later continued medical studies in London. Fitzherbert married, in 1837, Sarah Jane Leigh. He graduated M.D. in 1839 and commenced practice in London, at the same time investing some thousands of pounds in the New Zealand Company. With the idea of safeguarding this investment, Fitzherbert purchased the 109-ton Lady Leigh, and arrived at Port Nicholson on 15 September 1841. His wife and family followed him, and Fitzherbert set up his home on Mount Victoria, entering business as a general merchant, auctioneer, and dealer in whale oil and bone.

In 1843 he was head of the Commission of the Peace. In 1848, after the earthquake, he sent his wife to Sydney, where a daughter was born. Fitzherbert lost the Lady Leigh in attempting to leave Port Nicholson at this time, and brought the William Alfred back from Sydney to continue and expand his maritime business. The family lived in Bowen Street, Wellington, for a time, then moved into Tredenham, a prefabricated house imported from Sydney, which Fitzherbert erected at the Hutt. He was now associated with Pharazyn in pastoral ventures. After some years he moved to Willow Bank, near Melling, in the Hutt Valley.

From the early 1850s Fitzherbert devoted himself to public life. He became a prominent member of the Settlers' Constitutional Association, and in 1855 was elected to the Wellington Provincial Council for Wellington city. He lost this seat in 1857 in the struggle to defeat Wakefield's party, and from 1859–69 was member for Hutt. He was a strong Featherston supporter, and succeeded him as superintendent in 1870–71.

Fitzherbert was also a member of the House of Representatives, representing Wellington city from 1855–58, and Hutt from 1858–79. He was Colonial Treasurer under Weld during 1864–65, obtaining from the British Government remission of £750,000 of the Maori War debt. From 1865 until 1869 Fitzherbert served under Stafford as Colonial Treasurer. In the 1872 Stafford Ministry he was Minister of Lands and Immigration. In 1876 he became Speaker of the House of Representatives, resigning in 1879 to become a member of the Legislative Council. Fitzherbert represented New Zealand at the Colonial Conference in London in 1887, and at the Postal Conference in Sydney the following year.

Fitzherbert was wealthy enough to be able to devote himself almost entirely to politics which were for him an engrossing hobby. He was by nature reserved and greatly enjoyed the privilege of wielding power from behind the scenes. A leading provincialist in local politics, he formed with Fox and Featherston a group known as “The Three F.s”. In the House of Representatives he was never an arresting debater, but he had a keen sense of humour while his use of sarcasm could be most effective. As Colonial Treasurer he was one of the most able of his day and certainly his financial statements were well presented and skilfully defended. As a politician Fitzherbert was not at all popular, and his flair for obtaining lucrative posts under Government led to the jibe that he was the Grand Pensioner of the Colony. He was far from impressive as Speaker of the House of Representatives (1876–1879) and his appointment in June 1879 to the Speakership of the Legislative Council by the Grey Ministry was hotly criticised on the grounds that the appointment was due to political considerations and that the Council itself should have had the sole power of election. Although the Council received Fitzherbert with marked coolness, he retained the Speakership, apart from one short break in 1887, until his death in 1891.

Fitzherbert was created C.M.G. in 1872 and K.C.M.G. in 1877. His wife died in 1886 and he died 7 February 1891. He was survived by two sons and a daughter.

by Keith Kennedy Campbell, M.A.(N.Z.), Lecturer in Philosophy, University of Melbourne and Alexander Hare McLintock, C.B.E., M.A., DIP.ED. (N.Z.), PH.D.(LOND.), Parliamentary Historian, Wellington.

• Fitzherbert Letters (MSS), General Assembly Library
• New Zealand Times, 9 Feb 1891 (Obit).

(1818–96).

First Superintendent of Canterbury, journalist, and politician.

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

James Edward FitzGerald was born at Bath in 1818 of Anglo-Irish gentry stock, the youngest son of Gerald FitzGerald, of Kilminchy, Queen's County. He was educated in schools around Bath, entered Christ's College, Cambridge, in 1839, graduated B.A. in 1842, became a clerk in the department of antiquities in the British Museum in 1844 after deciding against a military career, and was promoted to an undersecretaryship in 1849, a post which was abolished in 1850.

By this time he had become interested in colonial affairs and in emigration – as was also the case with John Robert Godley, his knowledge of Irish conditions turned his mind towards emigration. Vancouver Island interested him as a possible colony and he published pamphlets on the matter in 1848 and 1849. He became secretary to the Society for the Reform of Colonial Government, through which he met many members of the Canterbury Association, notably Godley, a major influence upon his life. About this time he resolved to seek a more active career in a new country. In 1849 he met Edward Gibbon Wakefield, and became emigration agent for the association, rather to Wakefield's displeasure; Wakefield also opposed his resolve to emigrate. Nevertheless, in September 1850, he departed with the main body of Canterbury settlers on the Charlotte Jane, not long after his marriage to Fanny Erskine, daughter of George Draper, a London merchant. He was an idealistic colonist, leaving a secure career behind as well as a circle of notable acquaintances, including Charles Kingsley and W. E. Gladstone. But he saw the change as a liberation.

On arrival he threw himself into affairs with the restless energy which characterised his whole active life, becoming immigration agent, sub-inspector of Police, and editor of the Lyttelton Times. In 1851 and 1852 he showed himself strongly anti-Governor and anti-Colonial Office, supporting Godley in his efforts to evolve voluntary local self-government. He was not well to do; journalism and politics were his chosen routes to affluence and influence. His attempt to buy the Lyttelton Times in 1850 failed; but in 1853 he was elected Superintendent, defeating James Campbell, a cheap-land advocate, significantly enough supported by FitzGerald's future enemy, W. S. Moorhouse. On the hustings he took a pro-settler, anti-Association stand – a reflection of the breach between Godley and the Association – and so earned Sewell's condemnation as “shallow, impetuous and dangerous”. In the same year he was elected to the House of Representatives for Lyttelton.

This antipathy did not prevent him from working with Sewell, both provincially and colonially. In the Parliament of 1854 he moved the Address-in-Reply asking for ministerial responsibility (holding this to be implied in the 1852 Constitution Act) and, with Sewell, Bell, and Weld, joined the officials briefly on the Executive Council. Lack of effective power led to their resignation; rumours of a possible Wakefield ministry intensified the existing antipathy between the two men. He was greatly cast down at the failure to achieve responsible government in 1854 and devoted his attention almost wholly to provincial affairs in the 1850s, though he again represented Lyttelton in the House from 1855 to 1857.

He was a notable Superintendent. His characteristically high-flown address to the first Council laid great stress upon education and is remarkable for its express disavowal, alien to the spirit of the association, of the principle of religious establishment. The hard work of transferring functions from the association to the province fell to Sewell, but FitzGerald presided over the process. He also reduced the price of rural land from £3 to 2 in an effort to serve both the squatter and the small agriculturalist; he had a large part in establishing Christ's College (naming it for his Cambridge College and later even designing the schoolroom); he saw the completion of the Sumner Road to Lyttelton and (ironically as it turned out) suggested a tunnel through the hills to Lyttelton; he backed, in 1857, the plan for assisted immigration passed by the Council.

By the end of his first term he was again afflicted with fears for his health and, instead of seeking re-election, went to England as emigration agent for the province. He also collected money for Christchurch Cathedral and for Christ's College and was involved in negotiations for the projected Lyttelton tunnel and rail. In 1859 he declined offers of governorships in Queensland and British Columbia.

On his return in 1860, full of vigour and confidence, he plunged into politics, both provincial and colonial. Again, journalism was the course chosen by this impecunious idealist. With greater vehemence than consistency he declared war on the Superintendent, Moorhouse, especially opposing the scheme to borrow £300,000 to finance the tunnel. From a whirlwind of speeches and pamphlets emerged the Press, today a leading national daily. His slashing manner offended his associates and provoked a stern rebuke from Godley in England, but in 1862 he assumed full control and confidently expected to make his fortune. But the paper went deep into debt and, in the later 1860s, he was forced out by his creditors, leaving substantial debts behind him.

Meanwhile he had been active in politics. From 1861 to 1862 he represented Akaroa in the Provincial Council; from 1862 to 1866, Ellesmere, and from 1866 to 1867, Christchurch, in the House of Representatives. He was prominent, if ineffectual, in the disturbed politics of the Maori War period. Upon the fall of Fox in 1862 Grey, the Governor, invited him to form a ministry, but he declined; for two months in 1865 he was Native Minister in the Weld Ministry. His speeches and his diagnosis of the cause of Maori distress were more notable than his administration. He was among the very few who held that the war was neither necessary nor desirable, and almost alone took the much proclaimed “self reliant” policy quite seriously.

In a major speech of August 1862 he advocated full-scale amalgamation, to the extent of Maori representation in the House and on the Courts, and condemned previous policy, including Crown pre-emption of land sales, for its tendency to separate the two races. Though he advanced the (by now) outmoded view that the wars originated in a Maori desire for good government, which successive administrations had failed to satisfy, he also made two assertions which subsequent scholarship has supported. He held that the Maori initially felt superior to the settler and treated him as “a sort of useful stranger … inferior to himself in all qualities which he most admired….”; and, further, that “before the war broke out the Natives were in a state of retreat from a condition of civilisation”. He was later, again with Sewell, opposed to the 1863 policy of coercion, land confiscation, and borrowing; he argued that the Suppression of Rebellion Act was likely to provoke wholesale confiscation and the Loan Act to benefit Auckland moneyed interests. As Native Minister he passed a declaratory Native Rights Act and started a Maori newspaper, but a Bill to settle the administration of native districts lapsed. He had no time to do more than earn considerable popularity among the Maoris.

In 1867 he retired from politics on appointment as Controller-General. He held this post, later designated Comptroller and Auditor-General, until his death in 1896. He was created C.M.G. in 1870. He lived in Wellington for the last 30 years of his life, and literature was the main interest of this period. He had always been an active writer and, at the same time, had dabbled in painting, sculpture, architecture, and music. He published nothing of considerable length, but from the 1840s to the 1890s there was a constant stream of pamphlets, articles, and verses on a wide variety of topics – emigration, land settlement, Maori affairs, defence, politics, the future of democracy, religion, art, evolution, university education, imperial federation, public finance, and literature. Little of it is remembered, but the outpouring of ideas is not without significance; he grappled, for instance, with Darwin's importance for theology, and in discussing university education he looked forward to eventual local autonomy and devolution. His verses, collected in 1893, do not lack grace, and “The Night Song of the Charlotte Jane” is still known.

FitzGerald is among the more endearing characters of the nineteenth century, on the one hand impulsive, undiscriminating, and inconsistent, on the other, talented, generous and idealistic. He cannot be said to have been entirely selfless; his finances were chronically insecure and his establishment of the Press, together with the hardly consistent campaign against Moorhouse, owed a good deal to personal ambition and calculation. His attitudes were customarily too unremittingly idealistic to make much impact upon his fellows; he was not heeded, though, such was his eminence as an orator, he was normally listened to. But his idealism did not preclude a certain clear-headedness, notably on the questions of race relations and education. Generally speaking, his ideas were better than those of the men who had more effect upon the course of events. Of his many writings little, apart from his memoir of Godley (prefixed to the collection of Writings and Speeches which FitzGerald edited in 1863), retains interest, though he holds a firm place in the histories of literature. Above all he is to be honoured as a man of parts and a man of taste; in a utilitarian century he was among the few who insisted that ideas, art, and literature should count, even in a colony, and that notions of right behaviour should be heeded, even by a colony at war with its racial minority.

A bronze statue of FitzGerald, by F. A. Shurrock, stands at the Hagley Park end of Rolleston Avenue, Christchurch.

by William Hosking Oliver, M.A.(N.Z.), D.PHIL.(OXON.), Professor of History, Massey University of Manawatu.

• Letters of J. E. FitzGerald (MSS), Turnbull Library
• A History of Canterbury, Vol. 1., Hight, J., and Straubel, C. R. jt. eds. (1957)
• New Zealand Rulers and Statesmen, Gisborne, W. (1897)
• Notable New Zealand Statesmen, Scholefield, G. H. (1946)
• Press (Christchurch), 25 May 1911, 25 May 1961.

(1870–1951).

Professor of clinical medicine and therapeutics.

Commonly known as Francis Wiremu Brian, Dr Fitchett was born in Dunedin on 6 July 1870, the eldest son of Alfred Robertson Fitchett, Dean of Dunedin. He was educated at the Otago Boys' High School and at Christ's College, Christchurch. He received his early medical education at the Otago University Medical School and his later training in the Edinburgh Medical School, graduating in 1895. He served as a resident medical officer in the Royal Infirmary, Edinburgh, and later as a civil surgeon during the South African War. He returned to Dunedin in 1902 and commenced general practice. In 1903 he married Gertrude Rattray. In 1905 he joined the honorary staff of the Dunedin Hospital and was a lecturer in clinical medicine in the Medical School. He secured his M.D., Edinburgh, in 1908, with a thesis on tutin. In 1911 Dr Fitchett was appointed lecturer in materia medica, and in 1920 professor of clinical medicine and therapeutics (part time), a position which he held until his retirement in 1939. In 1925 he was elected a member of the Royal College of Physicians of London and in 1937 a fellow of the same college. In 1928 Professor Fitchett was appointed chairman of a commission to investigate tuberculosis in New Zealand.

Professor Fitchett was a highly efficient practical physician, with a powerful and penetrating intellect. He was a man of polished speech and immaculate attire, with a kind heart frequently veiled under a brusqueness of manner and a sarcasm for which he was notorious. His interests were wide and ranged from books, music, and poetry – at one time he learnt a sonnet of Shakespeare every day – to fishing and rugby football, birds, and flowers. Professor Fitchett was a personality of great charm, who remains a legend to his former students.

On 2 September 1903, at St. Matthew's Church, Stafford Street, Dunedin, Fitchett married Gertrude Vivian, daughter of James Rattray, a Dunedin merchant, and by her he had one son and one daughter. He died at Stafford Private Hospital in Dunedin on 5 November 1951.

by Charles Ernest Hercus, KT., D.S.O., O.B.E., U.D., M.B. CH.B.(N.Z.), M.D., D.P.H., B.D.S., F.R.C.P., F.R.A.C.P., F.R.A.C.S., Emeritus Professor, University of Otago.

• Otago Daily Times, 6 Nov 1951 (Obit).