John Sheehan

Who was John Sheehan?

John Sheehan was a 19th-century New Zealand politician. He was the first New Zealand-born Member of the New Zealand Parliament and the first to hold cabinet rank.

He was educated at St Peter's School under the guidance of his teacher, Richard O'Sullivan and where he knew another later Cabinet Minister, Joseph Tole.

He was the Minister of Justice and the Minister of Māori Affairs from 1877 to 1879. He represented several North Island electorates: Rodney from 1872 to 1879, then Thames from 1879 to 1884, when he was defeated. He then represented Tauranga from a by-election on 22 May 1885 until he died shortly after on 12 June.

A fluent Maori speaker and a lawyer, he is noted for his efforts with the Repudiation Movement in the 1870s to solve land issues on behalf of Hawkes Bay Maori chiefs who claimed large European land holders, such as McLean, had acquired land improperly. The Repudiation Movement failed but Sheehan gained a positive reputation with Maori leaders. In 1877 he became Native Minister in the Grey Government. He tried to negotiate land deals in Taranaki with iwi leaders and King Tawhaio but failed.