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)
Waikanae, New Zealand
Spouse
Mary Zohrab
​
(m. 1957)​
RelativesReginald Hardie Boys (father)
Profession
  • Lawyer
  • judge

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] the son of Edith May (née Bennett) and Reginald Hardie Boys (1903–1970), a lawyer and later judge of the Supreme Court.[2][3] 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.[1] Hardie Boys married Mary Zohrab, a great-granddaughter of Octavius Hadfield, in 1957.[1][4] 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.[5]

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.[6] 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.[7]

Governor-General

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 mixed-member proportional representation (MMP) election, the appointment of a lawyer with an understanding of constitutional law was desirable.[5][8] Bolger had notified all leaders of parties then represented in parliament, to ensure broad cross-party support. At subsequent appointments, other party leaders are only notified very shortly before the announcement is made, if at all.[9]

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.[10] He was also appointed a Knight of the Order of St John of Jerusalem in April 1996.[11]

As governor-general, Hardie Boys had constitutional, ceremonial and community functions as per New Zealand's conventions. The constitutional duties involved summoning parliament at the beginning of each parliamentary session, delivering the prime minister's speech from the throne as part of these openings,[lower-alpha 1] the signing of bills that had been passed by parliament into law. Ceremonial duties included bestowing royal honours, and to prorogue parliament at the end of its term. Ceremonial duties included acting as patron for many of the country's societies.[13]

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.[14]

During Hardie Boys' term, controversy ensued in 1996 when he stated his opposition to Minister of Youth Affairs Deborah Morris's suggestion that young people have access to contraceptives.[15] 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.[15]

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.[16]

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."[17]

Hardie Boys died in Waikanae on 29 December 2023, at the age of 92.[16][18][19]

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:[20][21]
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)

Explanatory footnotes

  1. ↑ The speech from the throne would be read by the monarch if in the country but during Hardie Boys' term, Elizabeth II did not visit; she had last been in New Zealand in November 1995 and next in February 2002.[12]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 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. ↑ "Wedding". The Dominion. Vol. 23, no. 7. 3 October 1929. p. 4. Retrieved 2 January 2024 – via PapersPast.
  4. ↑ Burt, D. H. (1996). "The governor general and a Primitive Methodist heritage". Wesley Historical Society (NZ) Journal (63): 4–5. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  5. 1 2 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.
  6. ↑ "Appointments to the Privy Council" (14 September 1989) 159 New Zealand Gazette 4242.
  7. ↑ "No. 54256". The London Gazette (2nd supplement). 30 December 1995. p. 33.
  8. ↑ "The Rt Hon Sir Michael Hardie Boys, GNZM, GCMG, QSO". Governor-General of New Zealand. January 1996. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  9. ↑ McLean, Gavin (2006). The Governors: New Zealand's Governors and Governors-General. Dunedin: Otago University Press. p. 123. ISBN 1-877372-25-0.
  10. ↑ "Queen's Birthday honours list 1996". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 3 June 1996. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  11. ↑ "No. 54362". The London Gazette. 3 April 1996. p. 4857.
  12. ↑ "The Queen's visits to New Zealand". Government House. 3 February 2022. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
  13. ↑ McLean, Gavin (28 September 2016). "Governors and governors-general". Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
  14. ↑ "Special Honours Lists – issued 20 and 21 March 2001". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 6 April 2011. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  15. 1 2 Mclean, Gavin (October 2006), The Governors, New Zealand Governors and Governors-General, Otago University Press, p. 281
  16. 1 2 MacDuff, Keiller (30 December 2023). "Sir Michael Hardie Boys, former Governor-General, dies". The Press. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  17. ↑ "Ditch Queen, say former Governors-General: New Zealand Herald". The New Zealand Herald. 14 November 2004. Retrieved 2 August 2006.
  18. ↑ "Former Governor-General Sir Michael Hardie Boys dies". RNZ News. 30 December 2023. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  19. ↑ "Sir Michael Hardie Boys". The Post. 1 January 2024. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
  20. ↑ 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
  21. ↑ "New Zealand elements". The Governor-General of New Zealand. Retrieved 26 October 2023.

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)
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