Henry Sewell
Henry Sewell was a prominent figure in the early colonial history of New Zealand, known for his role in the establishment of the Canterbury settlement and his political contributions. Born in September 1807 in Newport, Isle of Wight, Sewell came from an affluent family and trained as a solicitor. After the death of his first wife, he moved to London, where he became actively involved with the Canterbury Association, which aimed to create a systematic settlement in New Zealand. He played a pivotal role in securing funding for land purchases, enabling the realization of this settlement.
Sewell became the first premier of New Zealand in 1856, though his term was brief due to a lack of support. He continued to contribute to New Zealand's political landscape through various cabinet positions and was influential in drafting key legislation, including the Compact of 1856, which addressed financial responsibilities between provincial and central governments. Acknowledging the complex relationship between colonists and the Māori, Sewell advocated for a self-governing structure for Māori, although his proposals largely met with opposition. His legacy includes infrastructure named in his honor and a reputation for his extensive writings on the colonial experience in New Zealand. Sewell passed away in 1879 in England, having left a lasting impact on New Zealand's development and governance.
Subject Terms
Henry Sewell
Politician
- Born: September 7, 1807
- Birthplace: Newport, Isle of Wight, England
- Died: May 14, 1879
- Place of death: Cambridge, England
Significance: Henry Sewell was premier (or colonial secretary) of New Zealand, the first in its history, for a brief time in 1856 and served in several cabinets after responsible government was established in colonial New Zealand.
Background
One of several children born to Jane Edwards Sewell and Thomas Sewell, Henry Sewell was born in September 1807 in the town of Newport on England’s Isle of Wight. He grew up in an affluent family and attended Hyde Abbey, a distinguished preparatory school.
Sewell qualified to serve as a solicitor around 1826 and then began working for his father’s law practice. After the death of his first wife in 1844, he moved to London, where he practiced law and became involved with the Canterbury Association, which was planning to create a systematic settlement in New Zealand. This prospect interested Sewell because he wanted to create an ideal legal system in the new colony. However, the association had difficulty purchasing land for the new colonists until Sewell came up with a strategy to fund land sales by “borrowing” from the education and church funds and then later repaying those funds. This made possible the realization of the Canterbury settlement in New Zealand. Sewell was appointed the association’s deputy chairman in 1850. Two years later, he left for New Zealand to conclude the endowment arrangements, ultimately landing in the colony in February 1853.
Political Career
In addition to overseeing the provincial transfer of powers, debt, and property from the association, Sewell began to take part in the evolving political system in the colony following the passing of the Constitution Act in 1852 and was elected to the House of Representatives as a member for Christchurch in 1853. In June 1854, after the first meeting of the General Assembly, he became an unofficial member of the Executive Council. As England had granted New Zealand responsible government, Sewell became its first premier (also then known as colonial secretary) on May 7, 1856. Strongly opposed to provincialism, he failed to gain the support necessary to lead the government and his ministry, and his term had ended by May 20, when he was succeeded by William Fox.
Sewell subsequently served in the cabinets of a number of premiers. He joined the ministry of Edward Stafford in 1856 as the colonial treasurer and eventually the commissioner of customs. He was instrumental in pushing several financial and law acts through the House. One of the most notable was the Compact of 1856, which he helped draft and which identified the financial responsibilities of the provincial and central governments and resolved issues related to the debts of the New Zealand Company. Having left his position as treasurer, he also spent more than two years as a representative in England, where he negotiated the terms for the New Zealand Constitution Amendment Act 1857, obtained a loan from the Crown, and arranged for a steamship to deliver mail to New Zealand. While he had stepped back into the role briefly after his return to New Zealand, he resigned as colonial treasurer in April 1859.
A member of the Legislative Council from 1861 to 1865, Sewell joined both Alfred Domett’s (1862–63) and Frederick Weld’s cabinets as attorney general (1864–65). In 1865, he returned to the House as the member from New Plymouth in the Taranaki region, but lost his seat in the 1866 election.
One of Sewell’s greatest concerns in his early political career was relations between white colonists and Māoris. He believed that colonial control over Māori affairs was necessary to promote colonization. He proposed a bill that would grant a form of self-government to Māoris and set up an endowment similar to the one he had crafted for the Canterbury Association settlements. The Crown would hold the title to blocks of land and grant occupancy to Māoris to live in part of the block. Revenue from the sale of the remainder would be used to fund certain programs to benefit Māoris. The bill failed, and in its place the Land Registry Act (1860) was passed, with Sewell appointed the registrar general of lands. Despite Sewell’s opposition to Māoris holding title to their land, he also opposed the use of force to confiscate their land. He resigned from the House in November 1860 due to his opposition to the government’s confiscation of hundreds of acres of Māori land after the war in Taranaki broke out. He later advocated for different plans for land purchases and Māori self-government, but found little support for his proposals.
After a four-year sojourn when he lived in England, Sewell once again entered the Legislative Council and served as minister of justice from 1870 to 1871 during Fox’s third ministry. While he briefly served in Stafford’s cabinet in 1872, he left politics behind the following year. He eventually returned to England, where he died on May 14, 1879.
Impact
Sewell was instrumental in making the Canterbury Association’s plan for a settlement in New Zealand a success, and his contributions were honored with several streets in the Canterbury district named after him. As a cabinet member of several administrations during the early years of responsible government in New Zealand, he played more of a supporting role than a leading one. His chief contributions were in helping to pass legislation and recording events in the Canterbury District and later in Wellington and Auckland. He wrote extensively about his public life in New Zealand and opinions of its colonial government and circulated his writing as newsletters to a large group of friends; his writing was considered valuable for authoritative historical records.
Personal Life
Sewell and Lucinda Marianne Nedham married in 1834. They had six children before her death in 1844. He married Elizabeth Kittoe in 1850.
Bibliography
Alexander Harris, C. “Sewell, Henry.” Dictionary of National Biography, edited by Sidney Lee, vol. 17, Smith, Elder, 1909, p. 1224.
“Henry Sewell Becomes the Country’s First Premier.” New Zealand History, New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage, 7 May 2018, nzhistory.govt.nz/page/henry-sewell-becomes-countrys-first-premier. Accessed 16 June 2020.
McIntyre, W. David. “Sewell, Henry.” Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, 1990. Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand, teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/1s8/sewell-henry. Accessed 29 May 2020.
McLean, Gavin. “Henry Sewell.” New Zealand History, New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage, 8 Nov. 2017, nzhistory.govt.nz/people/henry-sewell. Accessed 29 May 2020.
Sewell, Henry. The Journal of Henry Sewell, 1853–7,edited by W. David McIntyre, Whitcoulls Publishers, 1980. 2 vols.