Josiah Hanan

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Josiah Alfred Hanan (12 May 1868 - 22 March 1954) was a New Zealand politician, cabinet minister, and legislative councillor. He also served as Mayor of Invercargill, and as Chancellor of the University of New Zealand.

Hanan was born in Invercargill, New Zealand, and educated at Invercargill Central School (dux) and Southland Boys' High School. He was a civil and criminal lawyer 1889-99 with a good reputation, defending Minnie Dean and John Keown on murder charges.

He entering politics in 1897, when he was elected Mayor of Invercargill (the youngest, and first NZ-born). In 1899 he was elected as the member of the House of Representatives for the seat of Invercargill. He held the seat for the next 26 years, and retired at the 1925 election.

In 1912 he was appointed Minister of Education in the short lived cabinet of Thomas Mackenzie. He also served in the wartime National cabinet, variously holding the portfolios of education, justice, and immigration. On his retirement from the House in 1925 he was appointed as a Member of the Legislative Council, a position he held until its abolition in 1950.

Hanan died in Dunedin in 1954. He married (1) Abigail Susan Graham in 1896, but she died in 1898. Then he married (2) Susannah Murray; and they had two sons. One of them, Ralph Hanan, was the National Party Member of Parliament for Invercargill, and a Cabinet minister.