Jump to content

Michael Hardie Boys: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
Tags: Mobile edit Mobile app edit Android app edit
Line 4: Line 4:
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}}
{{Infobox officeholder
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = [[The Right Honourable]]
| honorific-prefix = [[The Right Honourable]] [[Sir]]
| name = Sir Michael Hardie Boys
| name = Michael Hardie Boys
| honorific-suffix = {{postnominals|country=NZL|size=100%|GNZMa|GCMG|QSO|KStJ}}
| honorific-suffix = {{postnominals|country=NZL|size=100%|GNZMa|GCMG|QSO|KStJ}}
| image = Sir Michael Hardie Boys.jpg
| image = Sir Michael Hardie Boys.jpg

Revision as of 23:48, 30 December 2023

In this article, the surname is Hardie Boys, not Boys.

The Right Honourable Sir
Michael Hardie Boys
GNZM GCMG QSO KStJ
Hardie Boys in 2001
17th Governor-General of New Zealand
In office
21 March 1996 – 21 March 2001
MonarchElizabeth II
Prime MinisterJim Bolger
Jenny Shipley
Helen Clark
Preceded byDame Catherine Tizard
Succeeded byDame Silvia Cartwright
Personal details
Born(1931-10-06)6 October 1931
Wellington, New Zealand
Died29 December 2023(2023-12-29) (aged 92)
Spouse
Mary Zohrab
​
(m. 1957)​
ProfessionJudge

Sir Michael Hardie Boys, GNZM, GCMG, QSO, KStJ, PC (6 October 1931 – 29 December 2023) was a New Zealand lawyer, judge and jurist who served as the 17th Governor-General of New Zealand, in office from 1996 to 2001.

Early life and family

Hardie Boys was born in 1931 in Wellington.[1] His father was the Hon. Reginald Hardie Boys (1903–1970), a judge of the Supreme Court.[2] After his schooling at Hataitai School and Wellington College, Hardie Boys gained a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws from Victoria University College in 1954. Hardie Boys married Mary Zohrab in 1957. They had two sons and two daughters.[1]

A lawyer by profession, Hardie Boys was a partner in his father's law firm; this became Scott Hardie Boys & Morrison.[1] He was on the council of the Wellington District Court Law Society (1973–1979) before he became its president in 1979. He was on the council of the New Zealand Law Society (1976–1979). For the New Zealand Law Society, he served on the Legal Aid Board before appointed its chairman in 1978.[3]

Hardie Boys became a judge of the High Court of New Zealand in 1980 (prior to 1980, the name was Supreme Court, i.e. he sat in the same court that his father had). In 1989 he was elevated to the Court of Appeal, and was appointed a Privy Counsellor.[4] In 1994 he was elected as an Honorary Bencher at Gray's Inn, and in 1995 became an Honorary Fellow of Wolfson College, Cambridge. He was also a visiting fellow at Wolfson. In the 1996 New Year Honours, Hardie Boys was appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George.[5]

Governor-General of New Zealand

Hardie Boys (left) with United States President Bill Clinton, 1999

On 21 March 1996, Hardie Boys was appointed by Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand on the advice of Prime Minister Jim Bolger, as the Governor-General of New Zealand. As the 1996 New Zealand general election would be the first MMP election, the appointment of a lawyer was desirable.[3][6]

In the 1996 Queen's Birthday Honours, Hardie Boys was the first person appointed a Knight Grand Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit.[7] He was also appointed a Knight of the Order of St John of Jerusalem in April 1996.[8]

Upon the completion of his term on 21 March 2001, Sir Michael and Lady Hardie Boys were both appointed additional Companions of the Queen's Service Order.[9]

Controversies

Controversy ensued in 1996 when Hardie Boys stated his opposition to Minister of Youth Affairs Deborah Morris's suggestion that young people have access to contraceptives.[10] Later, in 2001, further controversy arose when he made an implied attack on the Clark Labour Government's scrapping of the air defence wing of the Royal New Zealand Air Force.[10]

Retirement and death

After his retirement as Governor-General of New Zealand, Hardie Boys served as a judge of the Kiribati Court of Appeal. He lived in retirement at Waikanae, where he helped out at Kapanui School's literacy programme.[11]

In 2004, Hardie Boys stated his opposition to New Zealand becoming a republic, stating in an interview: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."[12]

Hardie Boys died on 29 December 2023, at the age of 92.[13][14]

Arms

Coat of arms of Sir Michael Hardie Boys
Notes
Michael Hardie Boys was granted armorial bearings with life supporters by the College of Arms on 8 February 2000, which consist of:[15][16]
Crest
Perched on a Log fesswise a New Zealand bellbird proper holding in the beak an Anchor Or.
Escutcheon
Gules between two Pallets Argent a Cross formy convex Or on each limb a Mullet Gules on a Chief Or the Royal Crown between two full bottomed Wigs proper.
Supporters
On either side a North Island Weka proper.
Motto
Certus et Constans (Sure and Steadfast – in reference to the Boys' Brigade)

Further reading

  • Hardie Boys, Michael (2016). The Boy from Evans Bay: The memoirs of Sir Michael Hardie Boys. Evans Bay Press. ISBN 9780473358075. (auto-biography)

References

  1. ^ a b c Lambert, Max (1991). Who's Who in New Zealand, 1991 (12th ed.). Auckland: Octopus. p. 263. ISBN 9780790001302.
  2. ^ Petersen, George Conrad (1961). Who's Who in New Zealand, 1961 (7th ed.). Wellington: A.H. & A.W. Reed. p. 150.
  3. ^ a b Winkelmann, Helen (30 December 2023). "Chief Justice pays tribute to Sir Michael Hardie Boys" (PDF) (Press release). Chief Justice of New Zealand. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  4. ^ "Appointments to the Privy Council" (14 September 1989) 159 New Zealand Gazette 4242.
  5. ^ "No. 54256". The London Gazette (2nd supplement). 30 December 1995. p. 33.
  6. ^ "The Rt Hon Sir Michael Hardie Boys, GNZM, GCMG, QSO". Governor-General of New Zealand. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  7. ^ "Queen's Birthday honours list 1996". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 3 June 1996. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  8. ^ "No. 54362". The London Gazette. 3 April 1996. p. 4857.
  9. ^ "Special Honours Lists – issued 20 and 21 March 2001". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 6 April 2011. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  10. ^ a b Gavin Mclean (October 2006), The Governors, New Zealand Governors and Governors-General, Otago University Press, p. 281
  11. ^ MacDuff, Keiller (30 December 2023). "Sir Michael Hardie Boys, former Governor-General, dies". The Press. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  12. ^ "Ditch Queen, say former Governors-General: New Zealand Herald". The New Zealand Herald. 14 November 2004. Retrieved 2 August 2006.
  13. ^ Sir Michael Hardie Boys, former Governor-General, dies
  14. ^ "Former Governor-General Sir Michael Hardie Boys dies". RNZ News. 30 December 2023. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  15. ^ TRANSCRIPT OF EXTRACT FROM THE RECORDS OF THE COLLEGE OF ARMS – Grants 166/110 – Grant of Arms, Crest and Supporters to Sir Michael Hardie Boys, College of Arms, 2000
  16. ^ "New Zealand elements". The Governor-General of New Zealand. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
Government offices
Preceded by Governor-General of New Zealand
1996–2001 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Michael_Hardie_Boys&oldid=1192722244"