Thomas Sidey

Sir Thomas Kay Sidey (27 May 1863 - 20 May 1933) was a New Zealand politician, remembered for his advocacy of daylight saving. He put forward a private member's bill for putting clocks forward an hour in summer every year from 1909. It was nearly passed in 1915. It was passed in the House of Representatives but rejected by the Legislative Council in 1926, and it was finally approved in 1927.

He was elected to the House of Representatives in the Caversham by-election as an independent liberal in 1901. He joined the Liberal Party as part of its left (radical) wing, and stayed with the party until the end.

He represented the Caversham electorate from 1901 to 1908, and then the Dunedin South electorate from 1908 to 1928, when he retired. He was then appointed to the Legislative Council from 1928 until 1933.

He was Attorney-General 1928-31 and Minister of Justice 1930-31 in the United government.

His only child Thomas Kay Stuart Sidey was Mayor of Dunedin from 1959 to 1965.

External links

* [http://www.dnzb.govt.nz/dnzb/default.asp?Find_Quick.asp?PersonEssay=3S15 DNZB biography]

References

*"New Zealand Parliamentary Record 1840-1984" by J. O. Wilson (1985, 4th edition, Government Printer, Wellington)