Blair Tennent
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
{{Use New Zealand English|date=August 2014}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|honorific-prefix = The Honourable
|name = Blair Tennent
|honorific-suffix = CBE
|image = Blair Tennent, 1954.jpg
|imagesize =
|caption = Blair Tennent in 1954
|constituency_MP = Palmerston North
|parliament = New Zealand
|term_start = 1949
|term_end = 1954
|predecessor = Ormond Wilson
|successor = Philip Skoglund
|constituency_MP2 = Manawatu
|parliament2 = New Zealand
|term_start2 = 1957
|term_end2 = 1966
|predecessor2 = Matthew Oram
|successor2 = Les Gandar
| order3 = 27th Minister of Education
| primeminister3 = Keith Holyoake
| term_start3 = 12 December 1960
| term_end3 = 20 December 1963
| predecessor3 = Philip Skoglund
| successor3 = Arthur Kinsella
|order4 = 20th
|office4 = Mayor of Palmerston North
|term_start4 = 1956
|term_end4 = 1959
|predecessor4 = Geoffrey Tremaine
|successor4 = Gilbert Murray Rennie
|birth_date = 4 December 1898
|birth_place = Greymouth
|death_date = {{Death date and age|1976|05|01|1898|12|04|df=yes}}
|death_place =
|spouse =
|party = National Party
|religion =
|profession =
}}
William Blair Tennent {{post-nominals|country=NZL|CBE|size=85%}} (4 December 1898 – 1 May 1976), known as Blair Tennent, was a New Zealand politician of the National Party and a cabinet minister. In Palmerston North he was a dentist, and a local body politician.
Early life
Tennent was born at Greymouth on 4 December 1898 to Elizabeth Blair and her husband, David Tennent. He was dux at Greymouth District High School.{{DNZB|Pilkington |Dorothy |5t13 |Tennent, William Blair - Biography|21 October 2011}}
Local body politics
Tennent was a councillor for Palmerston North City Council from 1933 to 1941. He was Mayor of Palmerston North from 1956 to 1959.{{cite web|url=http://www.pncc.govt.nz/About/History/Detail.aspx?id=2049|title=1950s|publisher=Palmerston North City Council|access-date=23 Feb 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100109173023/http://www.pncc.govt.nz/About/History/Detail.aspx?id=2049|archive-date=9 January 2010|df=dmy-all}}{{cite book|last=Matheson|first=Ian Roderick|title=Council and community: 125 years of local government in Palmerston North 1877-2002|year=2003|pages=91–97|chapter=Palmerston North Borough and City Councillors|publisher=Palmerston North City Library |isbn=0-473-09340-5 }}
He was on the Board of Governors for Palmerston North Boys' High School, and in 1954 led the conservative opposition to the appointment of Guthrie Wilson to head either Palmerston North Boys' High School or Freyberg High School because of the frank and sexually explicit language in his novels.Guthrie Wilson by Julia Millen pp124-126 (2006, First Edition Ltd, Wellington) {{ISBN|1-877391-63-8}}
Member of Parliament
{{NZ parlbox header|align=left|nolist = true}}
{{NZ parlbox|start={{NZ election link year|1949}} |end=1951 |term=29th
|electorate=Palmerston North
|party=New Zealand National Party
}}
{{NZ parlbox|start={{NZ election link year|1951}} |end=1954 |term=30th
|electorate=Palmerston North
|party=New Zealand National Party
}}
{{NZ parlbox break}}
{{NZ parlbox|start={{NZ election link year|1957}} |end=1960 |term=32nd
|electorate=Manawatu
|party=New Zealand National Party
}}
{{NZ parlbox|start={{NZ election link year|1960}} |end=1963 |term=33rd
|electorate=Manawatu
|party=New Zealand National Party
}}
{{NZ parlbox|start={{NZ election link year|1963}} |end=1966 |term=34th
|electorate=Manawatu
|party=New Zealand National Party
}}
{{NZ parlbox footer}}
Tennent represented the Palmerston North electorate from 1949 to 1954, when he was defeated by Philip Skoglund. He then represented the Manawatu electorate from 1957 to 1966, when he retired.{{cite book |last= Wilson |first= James Oakley |title= New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 |edition= 4th |orig-year=First published in 1913 |year= 1985 |publisher= V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer |location= Wellington |oclc=154283103 |pages=89, 239}}
He was Minister of Education in the Second National Government from 1960 to 1963.
In 1953, Tennent was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal.{{cite news |url=http://www.nzlii.org/nz/other/nz_gazette/1953/37.pdf |title=Coronation Medal |work=Supplement to the New Zealand Gazette |issue=37 |date=3 July 1953 |pages=1021–1035 |access-date=20 March 2022}}
Later life
He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire, for services in politics and education, in the 1973 New Year Honours.{{London Gazette |issue=45861 |date=1 January 1973 |page=34 |supp=2}} Tennent died at his home in Palmerston North on 1 May 1976.
References
{{reflist}}
Further reading
- {{cite book |last = Gustafson |first = Barry |author-link = Barry Gustafson |title = The First 50 Years : A History of the New Zealand National Party |year = 1986 |publisher = Reed Methuen |location = Auckland |isbn = 0-474-00177-6}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-par | nz}}
{{s-bef | before = Ormond Wilson}}
{{s-ttl | title = Member of Parliament for Palmerston North | years=1949–1954}}
{{s-aft | after = Philip Skoglund}}
|-
{{s-bef | before= Matthew Oram}}
{{s-ttl | title= Member of Parliament for Manawatu|years=1957–1966}}
{{s-aft | after= Les Gandar}}
{{s-off}}
{{s-bef | before = Philip Skoglund}}
{{s-ttl | title = Minister of Education |years=1960–1963}}
{{s-aft | after = Arthur Kinsella}}
{{end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tennent, Blair}}
Category:New Zealand National Party MPs
Category:Members of the Cabinet of New Zealand
Category:Mayors of Palmerston North
Category:People from Greymouth
Category:Ministers of education of New Zealand
Category:Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives
Category:New Zealand MPs for North Island electorates
Category:New Zealand Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
Category:Unsuccessful candidates in the 1954 New Zealand general election
Category:Chancellors of Massey University
Category:Palmerston North City Councillors