Jim Thorn - Misplaced Pages

New Zealand politician and trade unionist (1882–1956)

Jim Thorn


4th High Commissioner to Canada
In office 12 May 1947 – 8 August 1950
Appointed by	Peter Fraser
Preceded by	David Wilson
Succeeded by	Thomas Hislop
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Thames
In office 27 November 1935 – 27 November 1946
Preceded by	Albert Samuel
Succeeded by	Constituency abolished
9th President of the Labour Party
In office 3 April 1929 – 8 April 1931
Vice President	John Archer
Preceded by	John Archer
Succeeded by	Rex Mason

Personal details
Born	1 June 1882 Christchurch, New Zealand
Died	21 November 1956 (1956-11-22) (aged 74) Wellington, New Zealand
Political party	Labour Party
Other political affiliations	IPLL Social Democratic
Spouse	Margaret Thorn
Profession	Journalist
Military service
Allegiance	New Zealand Army
Years of service	1900–01
Rank	Bugler
Battles/wars	Second Boer War

James Thorn (1 June 1882 – 21 November 1956) was a New Zealand politician and trade unionist. He was an organiser and candidate for the Independent Political Labour League, Social Democratic Party then the Labour Party.

Biography

Early life

Thorn was born in Christchurch, educated at Christchurch Boys' High School. He worked in the Addington Railway Workshops and as a journalist. Thorn was a bugler in the third New Zealand Contingent to the Boer War in 1900 and 1901; the experience turned him into a pacifist. He was engaged in trade union and party activity, including 1909 to 1913 in England and Scotland.

He unsuccessfully stood for the Independent Political Labour League in the Christchurch South electorate in the 1905 and 1908 election. In 1907 and 1908, he was President of the Independent Political Labour League. In 1909, he went to England and then Scotland and worked for labour parties there.

Political career

New Zealand Parliament
Years	Term	Electorate
1935–1938	25th	Thames	Labour
1938–1943	26th	Thames	Labour
1943–1946	27th	Thames	Labour

In 1914, he moved to Palmerston North and unsuccessfully stood in the 1914 election in the Palmerston electorate representing the new Social Democratic Party against the incumbent David Buick and two others, with Buick getting elected.

He met his future wife while living in Palmerston North; Margaret Anderson (1897–1969), 15 years his junior, who had joined the Social Democratic Party with her father. The Thorns married on 8 December 1917 in Wellington. He was imprisoned for opposing conscription in World War I.

He was president of the Labour Party (1929–1931), and vice-president at various times (1925–1927; 1928–1929; 1936–1938), and national secretary (1932–1936).

He unsuccessfully stood in the Otaki electorate in the 1931 election. He represented the electorate of Thames from 1935 to 1946, when the seat was abolished. From 1943 to 1946 Thorn was Under-Secretary to the Prime Minister. In the 1946 election, he contested the Otaki electorate again, but was beaten by National's Jimmy Maher.

Later life and death

From 1947 to 1950 he was High Commissioner to Canada, and was President of UNESCO in 1949. In 1952 he wrote a biography of Peter Fraser and later published a history of the First Labour Government. In 1953, he was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal.

Thorn died in 1956 and his ashes were buried at Karori Cemetery, Wellington.

Notes

^ McAloon, Jim. "Thorn, James – Biography". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 23 December 2011.
^ Gustafson, Barry (1980). Labour's path to political independence: The Origins and Establishment of the New Zealand Labour Party, 1900–19. Auckland, New Zealand: Auckland University Press. p. 168. ISBN 0-19-647986-X.
"North Island". Hawera & Normanby Star. Vol. LXVIII. 11 December 1914. p. 4. Retrieved 23 December 2011.
Margaret Thorn
Paul, J.T. (1946). Humanism in Politics: New Zealand Labour Party in Retrospect. Wellington, NZ: New Zealand Worker Printing and Publishing. p. 192.
Scholefield, Guy (1950) . New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1949 (3rd ed.). Wellington: Govt. Printer. p. 144.
^ "James Thorn, Labour Stalwart, Dies". The New Zealand Herald. 22 November 1956. p. 15.
Wilson, James Oakley (1985) . New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. pp. 217, 240. OCLC 154283103.
"Coronation Medal" (PDF). Supplement to the New Zealand Gazette. No. 37. 3 July 1953. pp. 1021–1035. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
"Cemeteries search". Wellington City Council. 12 July 2012. Retrieved 27 June 2015.

References

Gustafson, Barry (1986). From the Cradle to the Grave: a biography of Michael Joseph Savage. Auckland: Reed Methuen. ISBN 0-474-00138-5.
Wilson, James Oakley (1985) . New Zealand parliamentary record, 1840–1984 (4 ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.

External links

Biography and photo at Union website

New Zealand Parliament
Preceded byAlbert Samuel	Member of Parliament for Thames 1935–1946	Constituency abolished
Party political offices
Preceded byJohn Archer	President of the Labour Party 1929–1931	Succeeded byRex Mason
Preceded byWalter Nash	Secretary of the Labour Party 1932–1936	Succeeded byDavid Wilson
Diplomatic posts
Preceded byDavid Wilson	High Commissioner to Canada 1947–1950	Succeeded byThomas Hislop

New Zealand Labour Party

Leadership

Leaders Names in bold served as prime minister	Alfred Hindmarsh (1916–18) Harry Holland (1919–33) Michael Joseph Savage (1933–40) Peter Fraser (1940–50) Walter Nash (1950–63) Arnold Nordmeyer (1963–65) Norman Kirk (1965–74) Bill Rowling (1974–83) David Lange (1983–89) Geoffrey Palmer (1989–90) Mike Moore (1990–93) Helen Clark (1993–2008) Phil Goff (2008–11) David Shearer (2011–13) David Cunliffe (2013–14) Andrew Little (2014–17) Jacinda Ardern (2017–23) Chris Hipkins (2023–present)
Deputy leaders	James McCombs (1919–23) Michael Joseph Savage (1923–33) Peter Fraser (1933–40) Walter Nash (1940–51) Jerry Skinner (1951–62) Fred Hackett (1962–63) Hugh Watt (1963–74) Bob Tizard (1974–79) David Lange (1979–83) Geoffrey Palmer (1983–89) Helen Clark (1989–93) David Caygill (1993–96) Michael Cullen (1996–2008) Annette King (2008–11) Grant Robertson (2011–13) David Parker (2013–14) Annette King (2014–17) Jacinda Ardern (2017) Kelvin Davis (2017–23) Carmel Sepuloni (2023–present)
Leadership elections	1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1933 1940 1951 1954 1963 1965 1974 1980 1983 1988 1989 1990 1993 1996 2008 2011 2013 2014 2017 2023

Internal offices

Party presidents	James McCombs (1916–17) Andrew Walker (1917–18) Tom Paul (1918–20) Peter Fraser (1920–21) Frederick Cooke (1921–22) Tom Brindle (1922–26) Bob Semple (1926–28) John Archer (1928–29) Jim Thorn (1929–31) Rex Mason (1931–32) Bill Jordan (1932–33) Frank Langstone (1933–34) Tim Armstrong (1934–35) Walter Nash (1935–36) Clyde Carr (1936–37) James Roberts (1937–50) Arnold Nordmeyer (1950–55) Mick Moohan (1955–60) Martyn Finlay (1960–64) Norman Kirk (1964–66) Norman Douglas (1966–70) Bill Rowling (1970–73) Charles Bennett (1973–76) Arthur Faulkner (1976–79) Jim Anderton (1979–84) Margaret Wilson (1984–87) Rex Jones (1987–88) Ruth Dyson (1988–93) Maryan Street (1993–95) Michael Hirschfeld (1995–99) Bob Harvey (1999–2000) Mike Williams (2000–09) Andrew Little (2009–11) Moira Coatsworth (2011–15) Nigel Haworth (2015–19) Claire Szabó (2019–22) Jill Day (2022–present)
General secretaries	John Glover (1916–19) Michael Joseph Savage (1919–20) Moses Ayrton (1920–22) Walter Nash (1922–32) Jim Thorn (1932–36) David Wilson (1936–40) Mick Moohan (1940–48) Allan McDonald (1948–71) John Wybrow (1971–85) Tony Timms (1985–95) Rob Allen (1995–2000) Mike Smith (2001–08) Chris Flatt (2008–12) Tim Barnett (2012–16) Andrew Kirton (2016–18) Andre Anderson (2018–20) Rob Salmond (2020–present)
Senior Whips	Andrew Walker (1916–19) James McCombs (1919–22) Dan Sullivan (1922–35) Bill Jordan (1935–36) Robert McKeen (1937–39) James O'Brien (1939–42) Arthur Shapton Richards (1942–47) Robert Macfarlane (1947–51) Phil Connolly (1951–52) Joe Cotterill (1952–58) Henry May (1958–72) Ron Barclay (1972–76) Roger Drayton (1976–78) Russell Marshall (1978–80) Jonathan Hunt (1980–84) Michael Cullen (1984–87) Margaret Austin (1987–90) Trevor Mallard (1990) Jonathan Hunt (1990–96) Mark Burton (1996–99) Rick Barker (1999–2002) David Benson-Pope (2002–04) Jill Pettis (2004–05) Tim Barnett (2005–08) Darren Hughes (2008–11) Rick Barker (2011) Chris Hipkins (2011–13) Sue Moroney (2013–14) Chris Hipkins (2014–16) Kris Faafoi (2016–17) Ruth Dyson (2017–19) Michael Wood (2019–20) Kieran McAnulty (2020–22) Duncan Webb (2022–23) Tangi Utikere (2023–present)

Organisation

Current members
of parliament
Names without
electorates are list MPs
(List of former MPs)

Leader: Chris Hipkins (Remutaka)
Deputy Leader: Carmel Sepuloni (Kelston)

Related organisations

History

History and related topics	Liberal–Labour Labour Unity Conferences Lee affair Black Budget Mason Affair It's Time Citizens for Rowling Moyle Affair Fish and Chip Brigade Rogernomics Māori loan affair Backbone club Closing the Gaps Helengrad Corngate Foreshore and seabed controversy KiwiSaver
Labour governments	First (1935–49) Second (1957–60) Third (1972–75) Fourth (1984–90) Fifth (1999–2008) Sixth (2017–23)
Shadow cabinets	Kirk Rowling Lange Moore Clark Goff Shearer Cunliffe Little Ardern Hipkins
Predecessor parties	New Zealand Liberal Party New Zealand Socialist Party Independent Political Labour League New Zealand Labour Party (1910) United Labour Party Social Democratic Party

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