Ernest Bowyer Corbett (1898 - 1968)

Born 7 May 1898 in Okato, New Plymouth, Taranaki, New Zealand

Ancestors

Died 15 Jun 1968 at age 70 in New Plymouth, Taranaki, New Zealand

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Tony Corbett [send private message]

Preceded by 27th Minister Peter Fraser

Ernest Corbett 28th Minister of Native Affairs of New Zealand 13 Dec 1949 - 26 Sep 1957

Succeeded by 29th Minister Keith Holyoake

Biography

Ernest Corbett is Notable.

Ernest was born in 1898. He was the son of William Corbett and Annie Bowyer.

Ernest attended Okato School until a family dispute with Mr Boyce, the Headmaster. The Corbett children, including Ernest, then attended Puniho Native School for four years, returning Okato School when Mr Boyce left for Banks Penninsula. School days were hard back then, the 1904 log book records Ernest and his two older brothers “received one stroke each of the cane for failing to bring handkerchiefs to school”.

He left school in 1911, aged 12, and joined the Post and Telegraph Department, for the sum of five shillings (50c) as a messenger in New Plymouth, and he had to supply his own bike. He later transferred to Hikutaia, near Thames, and Auckland as a clerical cadet, studying there for his junior civil servant examination and youth work as a scout leader.

He left the P&T in 1918 to enlist in the army, and was at Trentham when the war ended. His elder brothers both served overseas, Ned was wounded and Bert was killed at Messines. After leaving the army he was granted a rehabilitation farm in Oxford Road in Okato, where he cleared the bush and developed a viable farm. He married Doris Eileen Sharp in New Plymouth on 7 February 1923; they were to have two sons (Albert Rex and Desmond Irving).

Ernest was an active member of the Okato community, serving on the tennis club committee, in the local Anglican church and on the Okato School committee. He was active in the dairy industry as director and then chairman of the local Oxford Dairy Company. He was subsequently a director of the National Dairy Association of New Zealand for six years.

He was nominated as the National candidate for Egmont in 1943, won the seat and held it until his retirement. In 1949 the newly elected National government gave him the portfolios of land, forests and Maori affairs. He held the portfolio of forestry from 1949 to 1954. He helped facilitate the establishment of the Tasman Pulp and Paper Company to process the maturing radiata plantations. Ernest was also active in conservation, adding 1,200,000 acres to New Zealand national parks and creating the Urewera, Nelson Lakes, Tararua Forest and Mount Cook national parks, and established 147 scenic reserves, totalling 44,000 acres.

He helped establish the Pukeiti Rhododendron Trust and in 1958 was awarded the Loder Cup for his services to conservation. He was a life member of the Forest and Bird Protection Society of New Zealand.

Ernest was responsible for two major measures. One was the Marginal Lands Act 1950, which set up a board to provide assistance to farmers with such land. The second was the Land Settlement Promotion Act 1952, which had the object of promoting both higher production and the more efficient utilisation of farm land.

However, the portfolio Ernest took greatest delight in was Maori affairs. In his first months in office he had two abrasive encounters with Apirana Ngata, in which he was chided for racial arrogance and urged to perform, he came away with considerable respect for Ngata, and his entire term as minister was devoted to implementing ‘Ngata’s policies’. This meant an obsessive interest in land legislation and land administration with little understanding of the new social phenomenon of migration to the towns. He personally aimed to bring equality to Maori and help them to achieve the same level in housing, employment and education as other New Zealanders.

Ernest was popular with Maori, visiting many marae and making friends with leaders of the Maori Women’s Welfare League, which was set up during his term of office.

In 1953, Ernest and Doris represented the NZ Government at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. On his way home he visited the USA to finalise the establishment of newsprint industry at Kawerau. A car accident in 1957 hospitalised him, and the signs of Parkinson’s disease forced his retirement from public life

Ernest fell ill and retired in September 1957, before the end of the session. He had been a very active minister of Maori affairs and had played an important role in the development of a Maori farming industry, although his legislation left a troubled legacy for his successors.

In retirement he and Doris lived at Okato. He set aside 5 acres of native bush by the Kaihihi River from his father’s estate – the William Corbett Reserve, and donated the land for Corbett Park, by the Oakura River mouth, which is named in his honour.

He passed away in 1968, he and Doris are both buried in Okato Cemetery, Plot O-203.

Sources

• Family records [Corbett-903]

NZ BDM records Birth 1942/60601 (very late registration!) Marriage 1923/2204 Death 1968/32570

• Graham Butterworth. 'Corbett, Ernest Bowyer', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 2000. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/5c34/corbett-ernest-bowyer (accessed 24 November 2020)
• Wikipedia contributors. (2020, November 19). Ernest Corbett. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 19:39, November 23, 2020, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ernest_Corbett&oldid=989523198