Walter Broadfoot

The Honourable Sir Walter Broadfoot KBE
34th Postmaster-General of New Zealand
In office 13 December 1949 – 26 November 1954
Prime Minister	Sidney Holland
Preceded by	Fred Hackett
Succeeded by	Tom Shand
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Waitomo
In office 14 November 1928 – 5 October 1954
Preceded by	John Rolleston
Succeeded by	David Seath
Personal details
Born	(1881-04-06)6 April 1881 Lower Hutt, New Zealand
Died	10 September 1965(1965-09-10) (aged 84)
Political party	United National
Profession	Solicitor

Sir Walter James Broadfoot KBE (6 April 1881 – 10 September 1965) was a New Zealand politician of the United Party, and from 1936, the National Party. He was a cabinet minister from 1949 to 1954 in the First National Government.

Biography[]

Early life[]

Broadfoot was born in 1881 at Lower Hutt. He received his education at Wellesley Street Public School and Kihikihi School. His first employment was with the Auckland Post Office as a messenger, and this was followed by work as a journalist for the New Zealand Observer. At night, he studied towards a law degree, which led to employment as a clerk in Hamilton in 1907, followed by setting up his own practice in rural Waikato's Te Kuiti in the following year. He specialised in native affairs and land problems.^[1] He married Dorothy Caroline Metcalfe (1884-1945), daughter of Henry Hulbert Metcalfe at St. Mary's Cathedral, Parnell, on 20 December 1910.^[2] They had two daughters, Beverley and Merron.^[3]

Political career[]

From 1923 to 1935, he was first deputy mayor and then mayor of Te Kuiti.^[1] He was first elected to Parliament in the 1928 election as a member of the United Party, when he defeated Reform's John Rolleston in the Waitomo electorate.^[4] On 23 April 1936, he became junior party whip during the United/Reform Coalition, just prior to the formation of the National Party resulting from the merger of the Reform and United Parties in mid-May. He became senior whip in 1941, and held that position until 1949, when he became Postmaster-General.^[1][5]

In 1942, he was Minister of National Service in the short-lived .^[6] In the First National Government, he was Postmaster-General and Minister of Telegraphs (1949–1954).^[7] He retired from Parliament in 1954.^[8]

In 1935, he was awarded the King George V Silver Jubilee Medal.^[9] In 1953, he was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal.^[10] In 1955, Broadfoot was granted the use of the title of "Honourable" for life, having served more than three years as a member of the Executive Council.^[11] He was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1955 Queen's Birthday Honours,^[12] and died in 1965.^[8]

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.
• Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.