Public Trust in New Zealand will celebrate its 150-year anniversary and although many New Zealanders know them for wills, they may not know how the organisation was conceived to protect vulnerable women and children.
Late nineteenth-century New Zealand society was haphazard; settlers lived dangerously and moved frequently around the country and beyond. Women and children were particularly vulnerable if widowed or orphaned, as appointed estate trustees had a habit of disappearing.
On a walk from Parliament along Lambton Quay in 1870, Christchurch MP Edward Stevens and the Colonial Treasurer Julius Vogel discussed the sad case of the trust fund theft from a widow and her family. Stevens suggested the idea of a government-owned public trustee service providing certainty and integrity to vulnerable New Zealanders’ estates.
Public Trust Chair, Ian Fitzgerald said that this celebration is about the organisation looking to the future.
"As we mark 150 years of advocating for New Zealanders, we can reflect with pride on the organisation Public Trust is today and look with optimism towards the organisation we aspire to be."
The idea for the government to protect the assets of vulnerable people was a progressive solution to the problems of colonial society. For the next two years Vogel, who was to become New Zealand’s premier in 1873, repeatedly pushed bills through Parliament, aimed at establishing such a service. He was finally successful, and the Public Trust Office Act of 1872 created a government-owned and managed public trustee service – the first in the world when it opened on 1 January 1873.
Public Trust’s duty to advocate for New Zealanders extended beyond protecting estates. It was one of the first government departments to hire women in the 1890s, to provide Māori and Pacific scholarships in the 1990s, and to fight for the recognition of mental illness in the 2000s.
Chief Executive of Public Trust, Glenys Talivai said that the celebration was a reminder for all New Zealanders to reflect on their own legacy.
"During our 150-year anniversary, we will be taking time to reflect on our legacy of advocacy for all New Zealanders. We will also be telling the story of who we aspire to be as we build the Public Trust of the future,” said Talivai.
“Our story in the immediate future will be of the transformation that will help us unlock greater value for the organisation, which will in turn set us up to continue to empower all New Zealanders to build and protect their legacies for the next 150 years.”
In 2023, 150 years on and now an autonomous, self-funding Crown-owned entity, Public Trust lives a proud legacy every day of being an advocate for all New Zealanders.
