James Prendergast (judge)

Infobox_Officeholder
name=Sir James Prendergast
order=3^rd Chief Justice of New Zealand


term_start=1 April 1875
term_end=25 May 1899
predecessor=George Arney
successor=Robert Stout
birth_date=birth date|1826|12|10|df=y
birth_place=London, GBR
death_date=death date and age|1921|2|27|1826|12|10|df=y
death_place=Wellington, NZL
spouse=Mary Jane Hall
religion=

Sir James Prendergast GCMG (10 December 1826 - 27 February 1921) was the third Chief Justice of New Zealand. Prendergast was the first Chief Justice to be appointed on the advice of a responsible New Zealand government.

Early life

Prendergast was born in London, United Kingdom, on 10 December 1826. He was the youngest son of Michael Prendergast QC and his wife, Caroline Dawe. James was educated at St Paul's School, London, and graduated BA from Queens' College, Cambridge, in 1849. In 1849 he married Mary Jane Hall at Cambridge. They had no children.

He enrolled at the Middle Temple in London in 1849, but spent some of the following year teaching at Routledge's School, Bishop's Hull, Somersetshire. In 1852 he joined the rush to the Eureka diggings in Victoria, Australia. He had some luck as a goldminer but contracted dysentery and moved back to town where he became a magistrate's clerk, first at Elephant Bridge, then Carisbrook and, in 1854, Maryborough. In 1856 another Londoner, the young Julius Vogel, set up shop next to Prendergast's office on the Dunolly field, near Maryborough. Vogel and Prendergast began what was to be a long and mutually beneficial association. Prendergast decided to emigrate to New Zealand and with his wife arrived in Dunedin on 20 November 1862. He was admitted to the Bar in Otago that year. His arrival in Dunedin coincided with the goldrush. Thirty-three lawyers were enrolled in Dunedin in 1862, and twenty more over the next three years. Prendergast's first client was Julius Vogel, then editor of the Otago Daily Times.

In Dunedin, Prendergast prospered - he became a senior partner in the firm of Prendergast, Kenyon and Maddock. In 1863 he was appointed acting solicitor for the Otago Province and in 1865 became Crown Solicitor in Otago.

Member of Parliament

In 1865 Prendergast was appointed as a Member of Parliament to the Legislative Council, the then upper house of parliament.

Attorney-General

On 20 October 1865 he became a non-political Attorney-General of New Zealand for Edward Stafford's government. In 1867 he resigned from the Legislative Council, and as Crown solicitor in Otago, and relinquished his law practice in Otago. He then moved north to Wellington.

As Attorney-General Prendergast's task was to consolidate the criminal law. In the process he drafted 94 Acts. He also helped to create order in the legal profession - in 1870 the New Zealand Law Society was formed with Prendergast as its first president.

Chief Justice of New Zealand

Prendergast was appointed Chief Justice of New Zealand on 1 April 1875 on the advice of Sir Julius Vogels government. As such, he was the first New Zealand appointed Chief Justice. A number of times, in his capacity as Chief Justice, he acted as Administrator of Government. On one occasion, in 1881, while the Governor of New Zealand was on a visit to Fiji, Prendergast sanctioned the attack on Parihaka by armed police. He was knighted in November 1881.

"Wi Parata v Bishop of Wellington"

Prendergast's most notable judgement was "Wi Parata v Bishop of Wellington" in 1871, a case involving Maori land in Porirua that was given to the Anglican Church for the purpose of building a school. The school was never built and Parata asked the land given to the Church be returned to the Ngati Toa iwi. In his judgement, Prendergast took the view that "native" or "aboriginal" customary title, not pursuant to a Crown grant, could not be recognised or enforced by the courts, because the Treaty of Waitangi was a "simple nullity". He called Maori "primitive barbarians", and said they were "incapable of performing the duties, and therefore of assuming the rights, of a civilised community". Prendergast's reasoning was not overturned until 1938 when "Te Heuheu Tukino v Aotea District Maori Land Board" was decided, where the Court ruled that the Treaty was seen as valid in terms of the transfer of sovereignty, but as it was not part of New Zealand statute law it was not binding on the Crown.

Retirement

Prendergast resigned as Chief Justice in 25 May 1899, after his wife died on 5 March. In his retirement he became a director of the Bank of New Zealand, the Wellington Trust, Loan and Investment Company Limited, and the Colonial Mutual Life Assurance Society Limited. He was genuinely interested in farming matters and became the first president of the Manawatu and West Coast Agricultural and Pastoral Association. Prendergast died in Wellington on 27 February 1921.

External links

* [http://www.dnzb.govt.nz/dnzb/default.asp?Find_Quick.asp?PersonEssay=5W31 Dictionary of New Zealand Biography - Sir James Prendergast]
* [http://www.teara.govt.nz/1966/P/PrendergastSirJames/PrendergastSirJames/en Biography in the 1966 Encyclopaedia of New Zealand]

Persondata
NAME=Prendergast, James
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Sir James
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Jurist
DATE OF BIRTH=1826
PLACE OF BIRTH=London, United Kingdom
DATE OF DEATH=1921
PLACE OF DEATH=Wellington, New Zealand