The Political Career of Robert Hart

Abstract

It is hoped that this short study of a pioneer settler of Wellington may help to give greater insight into the local political life of the town, and also some idea of early government administration and its difficulties. The link between these two topics is that which is provided by the political and the administrative work of one man, Robert Hart. It was not so much because Hart was particularly important - he was certainly not as important or famous as many of the men amongst whom he was to work - but because he was significant in the work he accomplished and the rank he assumed. In common with the other early settlers Hart put himself at the disposal of his adopted country and never spared himself in his efforts towards its growth and development. After a period of considerable local activity Hart accepted a seat in the General Assembly at some sacrifice to his personal convenience, as it entailed an uncomfortable journey to Auckland and a long stay there. In the last twenty years of his life he sat in the Legislative Council and threw himself wholeheartedly into its work, becoming one of the most zealous defenders of that chamber's reputation and honour. In spite of periods of ill-health he attended the sessions of the Council for the greater part of that time, and continued in his private legal practice for a few years after his appointment. Between the years of his parliamentary activity he held a number of administrative posts in the central government which he creditably filled in spite of periods of unmerited unpopularity. He did not attain ministerial position - apart from the temporary Attorney-Generalship, and his own modesty made him refuse the offer of a seat on the Supreme Court bench. When his death was announced in Parliament in 1894 Sir Robert Stout said that in his prime Hart was regarded as one of the colony's best lawyers. Sir Patrick Buckley, Hart's former partner, thought he was one of the best men who had addressed a jury in this country.