William Hughes Field (17 July 1861 – 13 December 1944) was a Member of Parliament in New Zealand; first for the Liberal Party, then Independent, and then for the Reform Party. He made a significant contribution to the development of tramping in the Tararua Range.
Field was born in Wanganui in 1861, the fourth son[1] of Henry Claylands Field (1825–1912)[2] and his wife Margaret Symes Purlow.[3] Field was a lawyer practising in Wellington first elected to parliament in the by-election after the death of the sitting member, his elder brother, Henry Augustus Field (1852–1899).[4]Tom Field (1914–1919), MHR (Member of the House of Representatives) for Nelson, was a relative.
Field was a significant figure in the tramping history of the Tararua Range of which he helped to promote the development of its most popular tramping route, known as the Southern Crossing. Within the Tararuas, both Field Peak and Field Hut, the oldest remaining purpose-built tramping hut in New Zealand, are named after him.[5] He was a founding member of the Tararua Tramping Club, one of the first of many tramping clubs in New Zealand.[6]
Centennial Highway opened 1940
He was closely associated with improvement to the railway services to his electorate, one train was known as "Field's Express", and the construction of the Tawa Flat tunnel. He also led the campaign for the electrification of the Johnsonville service extended to Paekākāriki in 1940[4] and, 70 years later, to his electorate at Waikanae in February 2011. With Charles Gray of Pukerua Bay he was largely responsible for the Centennial Highway on the narrow coastline south of Paekākāriki.[7]
Field won the Otaki electorate in the Horowhenua District in 1900, but lost it to John Robertson of the Labour Party (who had been nominated by the flax-workers union) by 21 votes on the second ballot in 1911. He then won it back in 1914, and held it until he retired in 1935.[10]
He replaced his brother, Henry Augustus Field, when he died in 1899.[11][12] William Field stood as a Liberal in 1900[10] and was regarded as a 'country liberal'[13] or 'freehold liberal'[14] and therefore it is not surprising that he moved politically to support the Reform Party over time.
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