Donald McLean (New Zealand politician)
{{Short description|New Zealand politician and government official (1820–1877)}}
{{other people|Donald McLean}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2014}}
{{Use New Zealand English|date=July 2014}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|honorific-prefix =
|name = Sir Donald McLean
|honorific-suffix = {{post-nominals|country=NZL|KCMG|size=100%}}
|image = Donald McLean, 1870s.jpg
|alt =
|caption = Donald McLean in the 1870s
|birth_date = {{birth date|1820|10|27|df=y}}
|birth_place = Tiree, Scotland
|death_date = {{death date and age|1877|01|5|1820|10|2|df=y}}
|death_place = Napier, New Zealand
|spouse = Susan Douglas Strang (m. 1851, d. 1852)
|relations = Douglas Maclean (son)
|order = 4th Minister of Native Affairs and Colonial Defence
|primeminister = William Fox
|term_start = 28 June 1869
|term_end = 10 September 1872
|predecessor = Theodore Haultain
|successor = John Ballance
|order2 = 9th Minister of Native Affairs
|primeminister2 = William Fox
|term_start2 = 28 June 1869
|term_end2 = 10 September 1872
|predecessor2 = James Crowe Richmond
|successor2 = himself
|term_start3 = 11 October 1872
|term_end3 = 7 December 1876
|predecessor3 = himself
|successor3 = Daniel Pollen
|constituency_MP4 = Napier
|parliament4 = New Zealand
|term_start4 = 20 March 1866
|term_end4 = 5 January 1877
|predecessor4 =
|successor4 =
|order8 = 3rd Superintendent of Hawke's Bay Province
|term_start8 = 26 February 1863
|term_end8 = 23 September 1869
|predecessor8 = John Chilton Lambton Carter
|successor8 = John Davies Ormond
|religion =
|profession =
}}
Sir Donald McLean {{post-nominals|country=NZL|KCMG}} (27 October 1820 – 5 January 1877) was a 19th-century New Zealand politician and government official. He was involved in negotiations between the settler government and Māori from 1844 to 1861, eventually as Native Secretary and Land Purchase commissioner. He was one of the most influential figures in Māori-Pākehā relations in the mid-1800s and was involved in the dispute over the "Waitara Purchase", which led up to the First Taranaki War.
Early life
He was born on the Hebridean island of Tiree, and came to New Zealand via Australia in 1840. He married Susan Douglas Strang, daughter of the registrar of the Supreme Court in Wellington, Robert Strang, on 28 August 1851. She died after giving birth to their son Douglas in December 1852 and her death deeply affected McLean; he never remarried.{{DNZB|Ward|Alan|1m38|McLean, Donald - Biography|30 December 2011}}
Political career
File:Donald McLean purchasing land at Wairoa, Hawkes Bay.jpg, Hawke's Bay]]
McLean was involved in negotiations between the settler government and Māori from 1844 to 1861, eventually as Native Secretary and Land Purchase commissioner. He was involved in the dispute over the "Waitara Purchase", which led up to the First Taranaki War. He was one of the most influential figures in Māori-Pākehā relations in the mid-1800s.{{cite web|title=Donald McLean (1820-1877) |url= http://mp.natlib.govt.nz/static/introduction-mclean-who?l=en |publisher=Alexander Turnbull Library |access-date=30 December 2011}}
He was elected Superintendent of Hawke's Bay Province on 26 February 1863 and served until the end of the term on 10 January 1867. He was re-elected on 9 May 1867 and served until his resignation on 3 September 1869.{{sfn|Scholefield|1950|p=198}} In addition, he was a member of the Hawke's Bay Provincial Council, representing the Napier Country electorate in the 2nd Council (1862–1867) and the Napier Town electorate in the 3rd Council (1867–1871).{{sfn|Scholefield|1950|p=201}}
{{NZ parlbox header|nolist = true}}
{{NZ parlbox
|start={{NZ election link year|1866}}
|end=1870
|term=4th
|electorate={{NZ electorate link|Napier}}
|party=Independent politician
}}
{{NZ parlbox
|start={{NZ election link year|1871}}
|end=1875
|term=5th
|electorate=Napier
|party=Independent politician
}}
{{NZ parlbox
|start=1875
|end=1877
|term=6th
|electorate=Napier
|party=Independent politician
}}
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He was a Member of Parliament for the Napier electorate in the 4th to 6th Parliament, from 1866 until his death in 1877.{{sfn|Scholefield|1950|p=124}}
In 1867 he introduced the law providing for four Māori electorates in Parliament from 1868. In the third Fox Ministry, he was Minister of Defence from 1869 to 1872 and Minister of Native Affairs.{{sfn|Scholefield|1950|p=34}} In the Waterhouse, fourth Fox, first Vogel, Pollen, second Vogel, first Atkinson and second Atkinson Ministries, he remained Minister of Native Affairs until he resigned as a minister on 7 December 1876, shortly before he died.{{sfn|Scholefield|1950|pp=34–36}} In 1874 he was made a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George.
The National Library of New Zealand has digitised 100,000 pages of his papers,{{cite web|title=Sir Donald McLean Papers |url= http://www.natlib.govt.nz/collections/digital-collections/mp |publisher=National Library of New Zealand |access-date=30 December 2011}} and the collection is featured on their website.{{cite web|title=Collections of the Alexander Turnbull Library|url=http://mp.natlib.govt.nz/?l=en|publisher=Alexander Turnbull Library|access-date=30 December 2011}} The collection includes over 3,000 letters written to McLean by Māori from throughout New Zealand.{{cite web |title=Search results |url= http://mp.natlib.govt.nz/search/?f=collection%24McLean+Papers%7Cseries%24Series+2++Inward+letters+%28Maori%29&l=en |publisher=Alexander Turnbull Library |access-date=30 December 2011}} It is the largest surviving group of 19th-century letters in Māori.
Legacy
Te Rau-o-te-Huia / Mount Donald McLean in the Waitākere Ranges was named after McLean.{{cite q|Q123383221|pp=131}}
Notes
{{Reflist}}
References
- {{Cite book | title=The Best Man Who Ever Served the Crown? A Life of Donald McLean | last=Fargher | first=Ray | isbn=9780864735607 | publisher=Victoria University Press | location=Wellington | year=2007}}
- {{Cite book |last= Scholefield |first= Guy |title= New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1949 |author-link=Guy Scholefield |edition=3rd |orig-year= First ed. published 1913 |year= 1950 |publisher=Govt. Printer |location= Wellington}}
- {{cite DNB|wstitle=McLean, Donald|first=Charles Alexander|last=Harris|volume=35}}
External links
{{commons category|Donald McLean (New Zealand politician)}}
- [http://www.teara.govt.nz/1966/M/McleanSirDonald/McleanSirDonald/en Biography in the 1966 Encyclopaedia of New Zealand]
{{s-start}}
{{s-off}}
{{s-bef | before = John Chilton Lambton Carter}}
{{s-ttl | title = Superintendent of Hawke's Bay Province | years=1863–1969}}
{{s-aft | after = John Davies Ormond}}
{{s-bef | before = Theodore Haultain}}
{{s-ttl | title = Minister of (Native Affairs and) Colonial Defence | years=1869–1872}}
{{s-aft | after = John Ballance}}
{{s-bef | before = James Crowe Richmond}}
{{s-ttl | title = Minister of Native Affairs | years=1869–1876}}
{{s-aft | after = Daniel Pollen}}
{{s-par | nz}}
{{s-bef | before = William Colenso}}
{{S-ttl | title = Member of Parliament for Napier|years=1866–1877 | alongside = William Russell }}
{{s-aft | after = Fred Sutton
William Russell }}
{{end}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:McLean, Donald}}
Category:New Zealand Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George
Category:Members of the Cabinet of New Zealand
Category:Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives
Category:Superintendents of New Zealand provincial councils
Category:Ministers of defence of New Zealand
Category:Scottish emigrants to New Zealand
Category:Members of the Hawke's Bay Provincial Council
Category:New Zealand MPs for North Island electorates