Sir Edward William Stafford, (born April 23, 1819, Edinburgh, Scot.—died Feb. 15, 1901, London, Eng.), landowner and statesman who served three times as prime minister of New Zealand (1856–61, 1865–69, 1872).
Edward Stafford, New Zealand’s youngest leader, was William Fox’s great rival and a more stable influence on early colonial government.
The son of a landed Irish family, Stafford began farming sheep in New Zealand (1843), was elected superintendent of Nelson province (1853) and representative from Nelson to the General Assembly (1855), and formed his first ministry in 1856. During this five-year term as premier, Stafford negotiated financial settlements between the British government, the New Zealand Company, and the provinces.
His free, secular and compulsory education system became the model for New Zealand; his County Roads Act was another precursor of colonial legislation. He negotiated for regular steamer services and began a public works programme paid for by customs duties and a land tax instead of loans. His provincial success marked him as the coming man of colonial politics.
The ‘Compact’ of 1856 defined the financial relationships between central and provincial governments and settled the old problem of the New Zealand Company’s debt. His wide knowledge of constitutional history and contemporary government gave him an unmatched awareness of how the new parliamentary system ought to develop, and of the need to pass a body of specifically New Zealand law.
Stafford believed that settler and Maori had a strong identity of interest in a thriving colony, and although he wanted more land to encourage immigration, he was opposed to Maori being forced to sell. His letters from England advised caution. He was uneasy about Donald McLean’s power, Browne’s reliance on McLean, and the pressures on C. W. Richmond from settler interests, especially those of Richmond’s own relations.
The war itself flared intermittently during 1865 and 1868, its causes the Pai Marire uprising and Domett’s and Weld’s land confiscation policies. These had been sanctioned by the Colonial Office, whose 1864 view had been that ‘rebels’ must be punished, preferably by colonial forces. Stafford always regarded the wars as imperial, not settler, wars, and this belief governed his tortuous dealings with Britain. In July 1865 Morrison, still London agent, wrote to him: ‘these are peculiar times for all colonies, and to meet them it is excusable to act as circumstances require. The Imperial Government of the present day appear to do all they can to get rid of the colonies.’
Until 1868 there was comparative peace. In 1867 the four Maori electorates were established to incorporate pro-government Maori into the political system.
His last ministry, formed on 10 September 1872, was pledged to administer the public works and immigration policy more soundly, but Vogel and McLean detached three members from Stafford’s supporters. On 4 October Stafford was defeated by two votes, asked Bowen again for a dissolution, was again refused, and resigned.
Unlike Frederick Weld, the Richmonds, Francis Dillon Bell and others, Stafford seldom posed on the high moral ground, although he had a consistent constitutional vision of how an independent and unified New Zealand ought to develop. He was a pragmatic, down-to-earth, successful politician; the supreme manager. He was premier for a total of nine years, a tenure in office exceeded only by Richard Seddon, William Massey and Keith Holyoake. For common sense and clear-sighted ability he must rank as one of the most effective of all.
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