Fred Waite (politician)

The Honourable Fred Waite CMG DSO OBE VD
Fred Waite during WWI
Member of Parliament, Clutha
In office 4 November 1925 – 12 November 1931
Preceded by	John Edie
Succeeded by	Peter McSkimming
Member of the New Zealand Legislative Council
In office 22 June 1934 – 31 December 1951
Personal details
Born	(1885-08-21)21 August 1885 Dunedin, New Zealand
Died	29 August 1952(1952-08-29) (aged 67) Balclutha, New Zealand
Awards	Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George Officer of the Order of the British Empire Distinguished Service Order
Military service
Service/branch	New Zealand Military Forces
Years of service	1914–1919 1940–1946
Rank	Colonel
Battles/wars	First World War Gallipoli Campaign Western Front Second World War

Fred Waite CMG DSO OBE VD (21 August 1885 – 29 August 1952) was a New Zealand journalist, farmer, politician, and soldier who served in both the First and Second World Wars.

Born in Dunedin, New Zealand, Waite was a farmer at the time of the First World War. He joined the New Zealand Expeditionary Force and served in the Gallipoli Campaign, during which he received the Distinguished Service Order. He was evacuated due to sickness and was repatriated to New Zealand. He later wrote a history of New Zealand's military efforts at Gallipoli and finished out the war as an instructor. He returned to his farm and became involved in politics. He joined the Reform Party and in 1925 was elected Member of Parliament for the Clutha electorate, serving two terms. In 1934, he was appointed to the Legislative Council. During the Second World War, he was overseas commissioner for the National Patriotic Fund Board and was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for his services in this role. Two years later he was made a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George. He died in 1952 at the age of 67.

Early life

Waite was born in Dunedin on 21 August 1885, one of eight children of a storekeeper and his wife.^[1] After leaving Mornington School,^[2] he worked for the regional newspaper, the Otago Daily Times and for the Otago Witness.^[1][2] He married Ada Taylor in 1912 and the following year took up farming near Balclutha.^[1] He was interested in the military and was a member of an engineers unit in the Volunteer Force, which was later re-organised into the Territorial Force (TF).^[3]

First World War

Following the outbreak of the First World War, Waite volunteered for the New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF) being raised for service overseas. He also undertook to send dispatches from the front for a local newspaper but this work proved short-lived when he became a censor as part of his military duties.^[4] He was posted as a lieutenant in the New Zealand Engineers and sailed with the main body of the NZEF to the Middle East in October 1914.^[1]

Waite, promoted to captain, participated in the Gallipoli Campaign and in early May 1915, he restored order amongst personnel of the Otago Infantry Battalion following a failed attack on Turkish positions. For his actions, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order. He served as the adjutant of the New Zealand Engineers and was twice mentioned in dispatches. Evacuated to England with dysentery,^[4] he was repatriated to New Zealand in 1916. His service with the NZEF ceased and he returned to the TF in his pre-war rank of major. He took up an appointment as Chief Engineer Instructor of the NZEF training camps.^[5][4]

Shortly before the end of the war, Waite wrote a brief account of New Zealand's contributions to the Gallipoli Campaign. Authorities invited him to prepare a more substantive work and this resulted in the semi-official history The New Zealanders at Gallipoli, published in 1919. He also worked on the production of three other volumes concerning New Zealand's war efforts.^[4]

Interwar period

After the war, Waite returned to his Balclutha property which he converted to dairy farming. He became involved in the dairying industry and set up the Co-Operative Dairy Company of Otago. He later joined the New Zealand Farmer's Union and was president of its Otago Branch. Still a member of the TF, he commanded the Otago Mounted Rifles Regiment.^[1] He remained in the TF for several more years and eventually received the Colonial Auxiliary Forces Officers' Decoration. In 1935 he was awarded the King George V Silver Jubilee Medal.^[6]

Political career

Waite became involved in politics and joined the Reform Party.^[1] He first stood for election to the House of Representatives in 1925, when he defeated the incumbent in the Clutha electorate, John Edie of the Liberal Party, with ease.^[7][8] He was one of 13 new members in a House of 80 representatives.^[9] In the 1928 election, he was challenged by Joseph Stephens,^[10] who was an independent candidate describing himself as Liberal-Labour. Waite had a 523 vote margin, which represented 6.5% of the valid votes.^[11] In the 1931 election, Waite was defeated by Peter McSkimming, who stood as an Independent, but had links to the United Party.^[7][12]

Prime Minister George Forbes had not made appointments to the Legislative Council since 1930, with the exception of James Parr in 1931, but allowed it to dwindle during the years of the Great Depression. By 1934, the membership had reduced to 19, the lowest since 1860, with two members about to retire. In 1934, 14 new members were appointed by Forbes, including Waite.^[13] All appointments became effective on 22 June 1934,^[14] and Waite at age 49 was the second youngest of the intake; only Vincent Ward was younger.^[15] Waite was reappointed twice, and served until the abolition of the Upper House in 1950.^[16]

When the National Party in 1936 was formed from the merger of Reform and the United Party, publicity was one of the major considerations. The party's provisional council established a sub-committee consisting of Henry Livingstone, Frederick Doidge, and Waite. This committee reported back in February 1937, recommending the establishment of a Dominion publicity committee, and a trustee company for the purpose of publishing a party newsletter. Party Publications Ltd was thus created, and Waite was the first editor of The National News. Initially, all financial members were to receive this monthly newsletter, aimed at being a counterpart to Labour's Standard.^[17] Whilst The National News performed an important part during the party's formative years, the venture was expensive and following the 1938 election, it was changed to a quarterly schedule, before being discontinued in September 1939 just after the outbreak of the war.^[18]

The seven-member Dominion publicity committee, of which Waite was a member, engaged three advertising companies to jointly prepare for the 1938 election. Two of those companies, John Ilott and Charles Haines,^[19] remained joint agents for the National Party until 1973.^[18]

Second World War

When the Second World War began, Waite had reached the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Territorials. He was appointed overseas commissioner for the National Patriotic Fund Board. Working from Egypt, he worked to provide the soldiers of the Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force with special supplies and treats.^[1] His services in this capacity was recognised in 1944 with an appointment as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire.^[20] He finished the war as a colonel, working in Europe on the repatriation of New Zealand personnel recently released from prisoner of war camps in Germany. In 1946, he traveled to Japan to inspect the infrastructure set for New Zealand's contribution to J-Force following which he retired from the military. In the 1946 Birthday Honours, he was made a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George.^[1][21]

Later life

In his retirement, Waite wrote papers on archeology and history including one on Egyptian pottery. While in Cairo during the Second World War, he collected several historical antiquities on behalf of the Otago Museum.^[1] In 1951 Waite was granted the right to retain the title of "Honourable", having served more than 10 years as a member of the Legislative Council.^[22] In his later years, his health was poor and he died in Balclutha in 1952 at the age of 67. He was survived by his wife and a daughter.^[1]

Notes

References

• Gustafson, Barry (1986). The First 50 Years : A History of the New Zealand National Party. Auckland: Reed Methuen. ISBN 0-474-00177-6. 
• Jackson, William Keith (1972). The New Zealand Legislative Council: A Study of the Establishment, Failure and Abolition of an Upper House. Dunedin: University of Otago Press. 
• McGibbon, Ian, ed. (2000). The Oxford Companion to New Zealand Military History. Auckland, New Zealand: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-558376-0. 
• Scholefield, Guy (1950) [First published in 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1949 (3rd ed.). Wellington: Govt. Printer. 
• Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First published in 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fred Waite (politician).

• Portrait by Stanley Polkinghorne Andrew (image becomes public domain on 1 January 2015)
• Group photo with Dan Sullivan (Minister of Supply), Col Fred Waite (National Patriotic Fund Board), and Col B Barrington on 6 February 1945 (unknown copyright expiry)