Page:The Dictionary of Australasian Biography.djvu/521

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DICTIONARY OF AUSTRALASIAN BIOGRAPHY.
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Taranaki war of 1860 and the Waitara question, by Mr. Fox, the leader of the so-called Philo-Maori party. Mr. Whitaker then resigned his seat in the Legislative Council, and entered into partnership with Mr. Thomas Russell, under the style of Whitaker & Russell, and carried on an extensive legal business. In Jan. 1863 Mr. Whitaker was again appointed Attorney-General, but declined the proffered accompaniment of a seat in Mr. Domett's Ministry. On the formation of the third Fox Ministry, in Oct. of the same year, he accepted, at the request of Mr. Fox, the offices of Premier and Attorney-General, with a seat in the Legislative Council. In Nov. 1864 the members of the Fox-Whitaker Ministry tendered their resignation, owing to the differences of opinion which arose between them and the Governor, Sir George Grey, relative to the conduct of the Waikato war and the confiscation of lands of natives in rebellion. Mr. Whitaker at this period resigned his seat in the Legislative Council. In 1865 he was elected Superintendent of Auckland without opposition, and in the following month was returned to the House of Representatives for Parnell. He became the leader of the Auckland party. In 1867 he retired from the superintendency and from his seat in the Assembly. At this time he took an active interest in the development of the mining interest at the Thomas goldfields; he was also largely interested in the timber trade, and in extensive pastoral operations. In 1876 he returned to the political arena, and was elected without opposition for Waikato. On the retirement of Sir Julius Vogers second administration in Sept. 1876, he accepted the office of Attorney-General with Ministerial precedence in Major Atkinson's administration, and with permission to reside in Auckland. In Sept. 1876 he accepted the additional portfolios of Postmaster-General and Commissioner of Telegraphs. In Oct. 1877 the Atkinson administration resigned on an adverse vote carried by Sir George Grey. Parliament was dissolved shortly afterwards. On the formation of the Hall Ministry in Oct. 1879, Mr. Whitaker was called to the Upper House, proffered his old portfolio as Attorney-General, and undertook the conduct of Government business in the Legislative Council. On the resignation of Sir John Hall, owing to ill-health, in April 1882, Mr. Whitaker became Premier, which position he resigned in Sept. 1883, in consequence of his private affairs requiring his presence in Auckland. In Feb. 1884 he was appointed K.C.M.G. by her Majesty. Sir Frederick was one of the founders, and for many years a director, of the Bank of New Zealand. He was Attorney-General in the last Atkinson administration from Oct. 1887 to Dec. 1890, when he retired with his colleagues. Sir Frederick, who died in Dec. 1891, married in 1843 Augusta, stepdaughter of Alexander Shepherd, Colonial Treasurer of New Zealand, who died in 1884.

White, Hon. James, M.L.C., one of the best-known patrons of the Australian turf, was the eldest son of James White, one of the pioneer settlers of the Hunter River district in New South Wales. He was born at Scone, in that colony, in 1828. While he was still at school his father died, and Mr. White at the age of sixteen was called upon to manage extensive station properties, and gradually took up more and more outlying country on his own account, until he became one of the largest and most successful New South Wales squatters. He did a fair share of work in pioneering country on the Barwon, Hunter, and Castlereagh rivers, and was almost uniformly successful in his enterprises. In 1869 Mr. White went to England, and remained away several years, during which time he visited all the principal cities of Europe. In 1866 he was elected to the Assembly for the Upper Hunter, and kept that position for three years, and then resigned upon going to Europe. He was nominated to the Upper House in 1874. As a racing man, Mr. White was first known in connection with a steeplechaser called Hotspur, who won the A.J.C. Steeplechase in 1876. His first notable racehorse was Chester, who was trained in conjunction with Roodee by Mr. E. de Mestre, and won the double—Sydney Derby and Cup. Another of his horses, Democrat, won the Sydney Cup and Metropolitan in 1878, and in the spring of 1879 Palmyra won Mr. White his first Maribyrnong Plate. In 1880 Sapphire won the Oaks, and The Pontiff the Metropolitan, and in 1883 Iolanthe won for him the Maribyrnong Plate, and

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