ISBN10: 1877372250, ISBN13: 9781877372254, [publisher: Otago University Press, Dunedin] Hardcover 424 pages.Grey, Jervois, Fergusson, Bledisloe -- their names adorn New Zealand buildings, streets, entire towns, even hills an d rivers. But little has been written about the occupants of Gove rnment House. The Governors tracks the evolution of an office tha t says much about New Zealand's constitutional journey. In Crown colony days, governors ruled personally; with responsible governm ent came uneasy adjustment and, from the late 1880s, a new breed of aristocratic governors who presided ceremonially. Since 1972, all governors-general have been New Zealand residents, two have b een female and more recently the office has acquired a new intern ational dimension. With the job came ceremonial and community rol es, which governors performed according to their differing person alities. You will meet the governor who complained about being 'h ighly paid, well housed and well fed, for performing the function s of a stamp' and another, all monocle, medals and plumed helmet, who spoke Maori.
[Wellington, New Zealand] [Publication Year: 2006]