John Cobbe

For other people named John Cobb (disambiguation), see John Cobb (disambiguation) (disambiguation).

Forbes Coalition Ministry in 1931, including Cobbe (back, second from left)

John George Cobbe (1859 – 29 December 1944) was a New Zealand politician of the Liberal Party, United Party and the National Party.

Biography

New Zealand Parliament

Years	Term	Electorate		Party
1928–1931	23rd	Oroua			United
1931–1935	24th	Oroua			United
1935–1936	25th	Oroua			United
1936–1938	Changed allegiance to:				National
1938–1941	26th	Manawatu			National

Cobbe was born in King's County, Ireland in 1859. He received his education in Tullamore and Dublin, and arrived in New Zealand in 1886. He was first employed in Auckland by Smith & Caughey, and then moved to Feilding to run a general store. In 1941, he became a sheep farmer in the Waihapi Valley north of the Whanganui River.

He represented the Oroua electorate from 1928 to 1938, having stood and come second in 1922 and 1925. He then represented the Manawatu electorate from 1938 to 1943, when he retired.

He was a cabinet minister from 1928 to 1935 in the United Government and the Liberal-Reform coalition Government; Minister of Defence from 1929 to 1935, Minister of Justice from 1930 to 1935, Minister of Marine from 1928 to 1930 and 1931 to 1935, Minister of Immigration from 1928 to 1930 and Minister of Industries and Commerce from 1928 to 1929 in the Ward and Forbes Ministries of the United Government.

He died on 29 December 1944.

References

• Gustafson, Barry (1986). The First 50 Years : A History of the New Zealand National Party. Auckland: Reed Methuen. ISBN 0-474-00177-6. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
• Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand parliamentary record, 1840–1984 (4 ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)

Further reading

• Carr, Clyde (1936), Politicalities, Wellington, [N.Z.]: National Magazines, pp. 59–61

• Gibson, Tracey A. (1936), The purchase and settlement of the Manchester Block: an account of the development of the Feilding district, New Zealand, Feilding, [N.Z.]: Fisher Printing

• Gibson, Tracey A. (1983), The purchase and settlement of the Manchester Block: an account of the development of the Feilding district, New Zealand, Christchurch, [N.Z.]: Capper

• This is a facsimile (i.e. reprint) edition of the original work noted above.

• Gibson, Tracey A. (2006), The purchase and settlement of the Manchester Block: an account of the development of the Feilding district, New Zealand, Christchurch, [N.Z.]: Kiwi Publications, ISBN 1-86964-224-4

• The three editions of the above work are noted for the sake of completeness. Cobbe was the local MP for the area in 1936, and contributed a Foreword for the book.

• Nelson, Olaf F. (1930), A candid communication: Hon. Mr. Cobbe’s speech on Samoa, Auckland, [N.Z.]: National Printing Co.

• This is a letter from the author to Cobbe, who was Minister of Justice at the time. It is reprinted from the New Zealand Samoa Guardian of 13 November 1930 (n.p.).