List of speakers of the New Zealand Legislative Council

The speaker of the Legislative Council was the chair of New Zealand's appointed upper house, the Legislative Council. The office corresponded roughly to that of speaker of the House of Representatives. The functions of the speaker included presiding over debates held in the chamber of the Council, and advising the legislative councillors on procedural rules. The position was abolished in 1951, along with the Legislative Council itself.

Holders of the office

Eighteen people held the office of speaker since the creation of the Legislative Council. Two had previously been premier, and another went on to serve in that office; one had previously been speaker of the House of Representatives. A comprehensive list of speakers is below.[1]

Key

  Independent   Liberal   IPLL   Reform   United   Labour   National
†: died in office

No.		Name	Portrait	In office		Government
	1	William Swainson		16 May 1854	8 August 1855		pre-responsible government
	2	Frederick Whitaker^1		8 August 1855	12 May 1856
							Sewell Ministry
	3	Thomas Bartley		12 May 1856	1 July 1868
							first Fox Ministry first Stafford Ministry second Fox Ministry Domett Ministry Whitaker–Fox Ministry Weld Ministry
							second Stafford Ministry
	4	John Richardson		1 July 1868	6 December 1878†
							third Fox Ministry third Stafford Ministry Waterhouse Ministry fourth Fox Ministry first Vogel Ministry Pollen Ministry second Vogel Ministry first Atkinson Ministry second Atkinson Ministry
							Grey Ministry
	5	William Fitzherbert^3		14 June 1878	22 April 1887†
							Hall Ministry Whitaker Ministry third Atkinson Ministry first Stout–Vogel Ministry fourth Atkinson Ministry
							second Stout–Vogel Ministry
	6	George Waterhouse^2		22 April 1887	21 September 1887
	(5)	William Fitzherbert 2nd time		21 September 1887	23 January 1891
							Scarecrow Ministry
	7	Harry Atkinson^2		23 January 1891	28 June 1892†		Liberal Government
	8	Henry Miller		8 July 1892	6 October 1897
				6 October 1897	9 July 1903
	9	William Walker		9 July 1903	5 January 1904†
	10	John Rigg[2] (acting)		5 January 1904	7 July 1904
	11	Alfred Cadman		7 July 1904	23 March 1905†
	12	Richard Reeves (acting)		23 March 1905	30 June 1905
	13	Charles Bowen[3]		30 June 1905	4 July 1910^4
				4 July 1910	4 July 1915
							Reform Government
	14	Charles Johnston		7 July 1915	13 June 1918†
	15	Walter Carncross		1 November 1918	10 July 1924^4
				10 July 1924	10 July 1929^4
							United Government
				10 July 1929	10 July 1934^4
							United–Reform Coalition
				10 July 1934	18 July 1939
							First Labour Government
	16	Mark Fagan		18 July 1939	2 August 1944^4
				2 August 1944	31 December 1947†
	17	Bernard Martin		29 June 1948	8 March 1950
							First National Government
	18	Thomas Bishop		15 March 1950	31 December 1951

¹ Later served as premier.
² Previously served as premier.
³ Previously speaker of the House of Representatives.
⁴ Reappointed at end of member's term. † Speaker died in office.

See also

• Constitution of New Zealand
• New Zealand Legislative Council

References

1. Scholefield, Guy (1950) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1949 (3rd ed.). Wellington: Govt. Printer. p. 88.
2. Thomas, Paul. "Rigg, John 1858–1943". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 14 January 2012.
3. Lineham, Peter J. "Bowen, Charles Christopher - Biography". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 31 October 2011.