Born in Britain, he emigrated to New Zealand in 1853 and became a member of the House of Representatives in 1861, also serving as a commander in the Maori Wars in the early 1860s. During his first term as Prime Minister he passed a bill abolishing the colony’s provincial governments. He later served as colonial treasurer (1879–82; 1882–83) and is chiefly remembered for the austere economic policy that he pursued throughout the 1880s to boost New Zealand’s recovery from economic depression.