The Good Citizen powerfully illuminates the role of ‘leading citizens’ in determining the way New Zealand towns developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, pushing their interests and establishing their place within the nation. Communities were vibrant, self-sufficient, and still in the process of formation, and the personalities and beliefs of their leaders had a huge influence on their futures.

C. E. Daniell (1856-1939), described by a contemporary as ‘the uncrowned king of Masterton’, was one of the Wairarapa’s best-known and most influential citizens between the 1890s and the 1930s. Forthright, confident, and capable, Daniell helped propel his district from a muddy and isolated frontier province to a prosperous and efficient part of modern New Zealand. The Good Citizen chronicles his efforts to improve Masterton’s educational, commercial, and infrastructural facilities. He also represented the Wairarapa on the Wellington Harbour Board for 30 years, chairing it through the difficult years of World War One. Many of the Daniell era debates between local and national concerns, and national and international issues, still resonate today.

Author Tim Shoebridge works for the History Group of the Ministry for Culture and Heritage, and previously spent four years as an historian with the Waitangi Tribunal.

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