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Graphic: An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand 1966.

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This information was published in 1966 in An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand, edited by A. H. McLintock. It has not been corrected and will not be updated.

Up-to-date information can be found elsewhere in Te Ara.

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HAULTAIN, Theodore Minet

(1817–1902).

Minister of Colonial Defence (1865–69).

A new biography of Haultain, Theodore Minet appears in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography on this site.

T. M. Haultain was born in 1817 at Stony Stratford, Buckinghamshire, the son of Lieutenant-Colonel Francis Haultain, R.A., and Eliza, née Deane. He entered Sandhurst (1831–34) and later saw active service in India, being present at the Battle of Maharajpore (29 December 1843). While still in India, Haultain married, in 1844, Jane Alison Bell, by whom he had three sons and four daughters. He brought the 8th “Fencibles” to New Zealand in 1849, stationed first at Onehunga, and later in the pensioner settlement at Panmure, Auckland. He relinquished his Imperial appointment in March 1857, and took up land at Mangere. He was a member of the first Auckland Municipal Council (1852) and represented the Southern Division in the House of Representatives from 1858–60. When the Taranaki War broke out Haultain organised the Auckland Militia, commanding the 2nd Waikato Regiment at Orakau, where he was promoted colonel for his services in the field, and made colonel-commandant over all four Waikato regiments. Disliking Weld's proposal to withdraw the Imperial regiments from New Zealand, Haultain resigned his command and was elected member of Parliament for Franklin on 13 October 1864. He was at first unwilling to join Stafford's Ministry, but did so in 1865 after Stafford promised to retain sufficient Imperial troops for detachments to be stationed at Taranaki, Wanganui, and Hawke's Bay. His administration was characterised by vigorous measures. He supported Whitmore in his campaigns, and assumed responsibility for withdrawing the West Coast outposts to Wanganui so that a strong offensive could be mounted against Te Kooti in Poverty Bay. While he was Minister of Defence, Haultain personally conducted the Whakamarama campaign (1869).

He retired from Parliament in 1870, and in later years undertook many courtesy duties for the Government, as well as serving on the Anglican General and Diocesan Synods. He died in Parnell on 18 October 1902, and was buried at St. John's College.

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

  • Hart's Army List (1856)
  • New Zealand Herald, 20 Oct 1902 (Obit).

Co-creator

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