Tom_Macdonald_(politician)

Tom Macdonald (politician)

Tom Macdonald (politician)

New Zealand politician

Sir Thomas Lachlan Macdonald KCMG (14 December 1898 – 11 April 1980) was a New Zealand politician of the National Party. He served as Minister of Defence (1949–1957), Minister of External Affairs (1954–1957), and Minister of Island Territories (1955–1957), and was New Zealand High Commissioner to the United Kingdom (1961–1968).

Quick Facts Sir Tom MacdonaldKCMG, High Commissioner of New Zealand to the United Kingdom ...

Early life and war service

Macdonald was born in Invercargill on 14 December 1898,[1] to parents Thomas Forsaith Macdonald, a farmer, and Margaret Ann Matheson. One of his great-grandfathers, Thomas Forsaith, was a member of the 1st New Zealand Parliament. Macdonald was educated at South School and Southland Boys' High School. He served in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force in Palestine in the First World War, and in the Second World War he served in Egypt, rising to the rank of captain until he was invalided home in 1943.[2]

Political career

More information Years, Term ...

Macdonald was the Member of Parliament for Mataura 1938 to 1946, then Wallace 1946 to 1957, when he retired.[3] He was Minister of Defence (1949–1957), Minister of External Affairs (1954–1957), and Minister of Island Territories (1955–1957) in the First National Government.[4][5] From 1961 to 1968 he was the New Zealand High Commissioner to the United Kingdom.[1]

Later life and death

In the 1963 New Year Honours, Macdonald was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George.[6] He died in 1980.[1]

Mount Macdonald in Antarctica was named for him by the New Zealand Geological Survey Antarctic Expedition (1961–62).[7]

Notes

  1. [1]
    Gustafson 1986, p. 329.
  2. [2]
    Templeton, Malcolm (1 September 2010). "Macdonald, Thomas Lachlan – Biography". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Retrieved 12 January 2011.
  3. [3]
    Wilson 1985, p. 214.
  4. [4]
    Wilson 1985, p. 87.
  5. [5]
    New Zealand Parliamentary Debates, Vols. 307–314 (1955–1956).
  6. [6]
    "No. 42872". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 January 1963. p. 39.
  7. [7]
    "Mount Macdonald". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Thomas Lachlan MacDonald.
More information New Zealand Parliament, Diplomatic posts ...
Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Tom_Macdonald_(politician), and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.