Julius Vogel - Biography

Sir Julius Vogel, KCMG (24 February 1835 – 12 March 1899) was the eighth Premier of New Zealand. His administration is best remembered for the issuing of bonds to fund railway construction and other public works. He remains the only practising Jewish prime minister of New Zealand (although two others including current Prime Minister John Key and former Prime Minister Francis Bell are of Jewish extraction, both from the mothers' side).

1 Early life
2 Political career
- 2.1 Member of Parliament
- 2.2 Premier of New Zealand
3 Life after politics
4 Namesakes
5 See also
6 External links

Early life

Born in London, Vogel received his early education at University College School in Hampstead, London. He later studied chemistry and metallurgy at the Royal School of Mines (later part of Imperial College London). He emigrated to Victoria, Australia in 1852, then moved to Otago in 1861, where he become a journalist for the Otago Witness. In November 1861 he founded the Otago Daily Times and became its first editor.

Political career

He first became involved in politics in 1862, when he was elected to the provincial council of Otago, and four years later became the head of the provincial government, a post which he held until 1869.

Member of Parliament

In 1863 he was elected a member of the New Zealand House of Representatives, and on retiring from the provincial government in 1869 he joined the Fox ministry as colonial treasurer, afterward becoming successively postmaster-general, commissioner of customs, and telegraph commissioner. The Fox ministry having been forced to resign, Vogel carried a vote of no confidence in their successors, and in October 1872, returned to power as leader in the Lower House, colonial treasurer and postmaster-general. He represented several electorates throughout the colony: Dunedin and Suburbs North 1863–1866, Goldfields in Otago 1866–1870, Auckland East 1871–1875, Wanganui 1876 (resigned) and Christchurch North 1884–1889 (resigned).

Premier of New Zealand

He was premier from 1873 to 1875 and again in 1876. From 1876 to 1881 he was agent-general for New Zealand in London, and in 1884 was again a member of the government of the colony. During his political career, Vogel worked for reconciliation with Māori, an effort generally regarded to be successful. In 1887, he introduced the first Women's Suffrage Bill to Parliament, although suffrage was not granted until 1893. He was knighted in 1875. He finally gave up colonial office in 1887, from which date he lived in England.

He is best remembered for is his "Great Public Works" scheme of the 1870s. Before 1870, New Zealand was a country largely dominated by provincial interests and pork-barrel politics. After Vogel, as colonial treasurer, proposed borrowing the massive sum of 10 million pounds, New Zealand developed significant infrastructure of roads, railways and communication, all administered by central government. This ultimately led to the end of provincial government in 1876.

He is also noteworthy as one of the few practicing Jewish prime-ministers outside Israel. Since Vogel, two other New Zealanders of Jewish descent have held the premiership: Francis Bell, an Anglican who briefly became prime minister in May 1925; and John Key, New Zealand's current prime minister who took office in 2008 and who is not religious. Benjamin Disraeli, who was also of Jewish descent, though he too was an Anglican, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom contemporary to Vogel's premiership.

Life after politics

Vogel is reputed to be the first New Zealander to write a science fiction novel, Anno Domini 2000 – A Woman's Destiny, published in 1889. It anticipated a utopian world where women held many positions of authority, and in fact New Zealand became the first country to give women the vote, and from 1998 to 2008 continuously had a female Prime Minister, while for a short period (2005–2006) all five highest government offices (Queen, Governor-General, Prime Minister, Speaker of the House and Chief Justice) were simultaneously held by women.

In honour of this book, the Sir Julius Vogel Awards for New Zealand speculative fiction were named after him.

On his death in 1899, Julius Vogel was interred in Willesden Jewish Cemetery in London.

Namesakes

Several things bear his name today:

The Sir Julius Vogel Awards for science fiction writing.
Suburbs named Vogeltown in Wellington and New Plymouth.
Vogel House, the former official residence of New Zealand Prime Ministers for most of the 20th century.
Vogel Building in Wellington built for the Ministry of Works, now housing much of the Ministry of Justice.
Vogel Street, in his former constituency of Dunedin, is named for Sir Julius.