File:Lord Bledisloe (14071191625).jpg

On May 10 1932 New Zealand's Governor-General, Lord Bledisloe, with his wife, announced the gift of the Treaty House at Waitangi and its surrounding land (405 hectares) to New Zealand. The property had become very rundown and the government was unwilling to buy it. The Bledisloes, realising the importance to New Zealand of Busby's former home where Te Tiriti o Waitangi had been signed on 6 February 1840, had purchased the property, and now they gifted it to New Zealand, ensuring its preservation.

Lord Bledisloe was Governor-General of New Zealand from 1930 to 1935. His tenure as Governor General ran from 19 March 1930 to 15 March 1935. He was born in London and studied at Eaton College before completing a BA in Law at University College, Oxford. Bathurst worked as a barrister and conveyancer and in 1910 entered parliament representing the Conservative Party as MP for the South or Wilton division of Wiltshire. After serving as Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food, Bathurst was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) in 1917, and raised to the peerage as Baron Bledisloe, of Lydney in the County of Gloucester. He remained in parliament until 1928, serving as Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries from 1924 onwards, and was a member of the Privy Council from 1926.

After leaving parliament, Lord Bledisloe was created a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George and appointed the fourth Governor-General of New Zealand. His social conscience was much appreciated during the Depression era, as was his insistence that his salary should be cut as were the salaries of public servants at the time. Bledisloe also contributed to improved Pākehā – Māori relations, purchasing the site where the Treaty of Waitangi was signed and presenting it to the nation as a memorial. In 1934, the site was dedicated as a national reserve. The dedication ceremony attracted thousands of people, both Māori and Pākehā. Bledisloe continued to take an interest in the site even after his term expired and he returned to England. Bledisloe also contributed to the recognition of the Māori King Movement by developing a friendship with King Koroki and Te Puea Herangi, and his willingness to use the title "king" without reticence.

Bledisloe also promoted various causes and events by the presentation of trophies, the most famous of these being the Bledisloe Cup, the trophy for an ongoing rugby union competition between New Zealand and Australia, first awarded in 1931, and currently contested annually.

This letter shown here is from a Treasury file and can be seen in full in our Wellington Reading Room. AALR 873 W3266 48 / 52/729 (R8275205) archway.archives.govt.nz/ViewFullItem.do?code=8275205

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