The Dictionary of Australasian Biography/Tancred, Hon. Henry John
Tancred, Hon. Henry John, second son of Sir Thomas Tancred, Bart., of Boroughbridge, co. York, by Harriet Lucy, daughter of the Rev. Offley Crewe, was born in 1825, and educated at Rugby. At an early age he entered the Austrian army, and served in Hungary and Italy. In 1851 he went to Canterbury, N.Z., and in 1853 was returned to the first Provincial Council, being appointed a member of the Legislative Council of New Zealand in the following year. Mr. Tancred was in the Bell-Sewell Ministry as a member of the Executive Council from April 18th to May 20th, 1856; and in the Stafford Ministry as a member of the Executive Council (August 5th, 1858, to July 12th, 1861), Secretary for Crown Lands (August 19th, 1858, to July 12th, 1861), and Postmaster-General (Nov. 3rd, 1858, to July 12th, 1861). Mr. Tancred was also in the Domett Ministry as a member of the Executive Council from August 6th, 1862, to Feb. 6th, 1863. He continued to sit in Parliament till 1870. In 1866 he was elected Speaker of the Provincial Council of Canterbury, which office he held till the abolition of the provinces in 1875. He was also much interested in educational matters, having been a member of the first Commission in 1863, a member of the Board of Education, a governor of Christ College, and a fellow of Canterbury College, Christchurch, and Chancellor of the New Zealand University from 1871 to 1884. He died on April 27th, 1884. Mr. Tancred married, on July 3rd, 1857, Georgiana, daughter of Lieut.-Colonel Mathew Richmond, C.P., of Nelson, N.Z. (q.v.).