Ernest Lee
Ernest Page Lee (1862 – 19 February 1932) was a New Zealand lawyer and politician of the Reform Party.
![](../I/Ernest_Lee.jpg.webp)
Early life
Born in 1862 in Teignmouth, England, he received his education at Cheltenham and London. Aged 18, he started learning the legal trade in a firm of solicitors in the West of England. He was submitted to the Supreme Court of Judicature in 1885. A year later, he emigrated to New Zealand.[1] He settled in Oamaru, and was at first a clerk in a legal firm owned by Thomas William Hislop and Arthur Gethin Creagh.[2] He founded the firm of Lee, Grave and Grave.[1] In 1895 married Miss de Lambert. His sister, Leah Lee, was married to the French poet Jules Laforgue.
Political career
New Zealand Parliament | ||||
Years | Term | Electorate | Party | |
1911–1914 | 18th | Oamaru | Reform | |
1914–1919 | 19th | Oamaru | Reform | |
1919–1922 | 20th | Oamaru | Reform | |
1925–1928 | 22nd | Oamaru | Reform |
Lee was elected onto the Oamaru Borough council.[2] In the 1911 election, he defeated the incumbent in the Oamaru electorate, Thomas Young Duncan.[1] He represented the electorate until 1922,[3] when he was defeated in the 1922 election. The 1922 Oamaru election result was invalidated due to irregularities, but Lee lost the subsequent 1923 by-election again to John MacPherson of the Liberal Party.[4] He won the electorate from MacPherson in 1925,[3] but again lost it to MacPherson in 1928.[4]
He was the Minister of Justice (3 April 1920 – 13 January 1923), Minister of External Affairs (17 May 1920 – 13 January 1923) and Minister of Industries and Commerce (22 June 1920 – 13 January 1923) in the Reform Government.[5]
Outside politics
Lee founded the North Otago Jockey Club. He was an accomplished mountaineer and ascended many of the high peaks of the Southern Alps.[1] He was on Lake Wakatipu when he had a seizure. He died three weeks later on 19 February 1932 at Queenstown, and was survived by his wife.[1]
Notes
- "Death of Mr. E. P. Lee". The New Zealand Herald. LXIX (21111). 19 February 1932. p. 10. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
- Scholefield 1940, p. 491.
- Scholefield 1950, p. 119.
- Scholefield 1950, p. 124.
- Scholefield 1950, p. 45.
References
- Scholefield, Guy, ed. (1925) [First published in 1908]. Who's who in New Zealand and the western Pacific (2nd ed.). Masterton: Guy Scholefield.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Scholefield, Guy, ed. (1940). A Dictionary of New Zealand Biography : A–L (PDF). I. Wellington: Department of Internal Affairs. Retrieved 24 June 2015.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Scholefield, Guy (1950) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1949 (3rd ed.). Wellington: Govt. Printer.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Political offices | ||
---|---|---|
Preceded by Gordon Coates |
Minister of Justice 1920–1923 |
Succeeded by Francis Bell |
Preceded by William Massey |
Minister of Police 1920–1923 | |
New Zealand Parliament | ||
Preceded by Thomas Young Duncan |
Member of Parliament for Oamaru 1911–1922 1925–1928 |
Succeeded by John Andrew MacPherson |
Preceded by John Andrew MacPherson |
Succeeded by John Andrew MacPherson |