The Dictionary of Australasian Biography/Gisborne, Hon. William
Gisborne, Hon. William, who comes of an old Derbyshire family, and emigrated to New Zealand, was Commissioner of Crown Lands in that colony from 1848 to 1853, and from 1853 to 1869 Under-Secretary. On July 5th in the latter year, while holding a seat in the Legislative Council, he became Colonial Secretary, which office he retained till Sept. 10th, 1872, and acted also till Dec. 6th, 1871, as Minister of Public Works. During his term of office he resigned from the Legislative Council and was elected to the House of Representatives. From 1870 to 1875 he was New Zealand Government Insurance Commissioner; in 1877 he once more entered the House of Representatives, and in July 1879 joined the Grey Cabinet in which he held office till October of the same year: from July 5th to 19th as Minister of Lands and from July 5th to Oct. 8th as Minister of Mines and Immigration. Mr. Gisborne, who has lived in England of late, was a member of the New Zealand Commission in London for the Colonial and Indian Exhibition of 1886, and is the author of "New Zealand Rulers and Statesmen" (Sampson Low, 1886), and, more recently, of "The Colony of New Zealand" (E. A. Petherick & Co., 1888).