John Wallace Ridley (1919–2006) was a New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 for Taupo

Taupo

Taupo is a town on the shore of Lake Taupo in the centre of the North Island of New Zealand. It is the seat of the Taupo District Council and lies in the southern Waikato Region....

 in the North Island

North Island

The North Island is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the much less populous South Island by Cook Strait. The island is in area, making it the world's 14th-largest island...

, a Rhodes Scholar and a civil engineer

Engineer

An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...

. He was awarded the QSO

Queen's Service Order

The Queen's Service Order was established by Queen Elizabeth II on 13 March 1975, awarded by the government of New Zealand "for valuable voluntary service to the community or meritorious and faithful services to the Crown or similar services within the public sector, whether in elected or...

 and the NZ 1990 Medal for services to New Zealand.

Early years

Ridley was born in Invercargill

Invercargill

Invercargill is the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand, and one of the southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland region. It lies in the heart of the wide expanse of the Southland Plains on the Oreti or New River some 18 km north of Bluff,...

 in 1919. He attended Timaru Boys' High School

Timaru Boys' High School

Timaru Boys' High School , established in 1880, is a single sex state secondary school located in the port city of Timaru, South Canterbury, New Zealand. TBHS caters for years 9 - 13 ....

 and then studied engineering at Canterbury University in Christchurch

Christchurch

Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest urban area after Auckland. It lies one third of the way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of...

. After the Second World War (in which he served as an engineering officer) he spent two years, 1946–47, as a Rhodes Scholar at University College

University College, Oxford

.University College , is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2009 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £110m...

, Oxford University, graduating with an MA(Hons) in engineering science. He was married to Avis (née Reed) about 1949.

Ridley was an engineer

Engineer

An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...

 of dams for power schemes like Benmore

Benmore Dam

Benmore Dam is the largest dam within the Waitaki power scheme, located in the Canterbury Region of New Zealand's South Island. There are eight other power stations in the valley....

 in the South Island

South Island

The South Island is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman Sea, to the south and east by the Pacific Ocean...

 and Wairakei in the North Island

North Island

The North Island is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the much less populous South Island by Cook Strait. The island is in area, making it the world's 14th-largest island...

.

Member of Parliament

Ridley was the MP for Taupo

Taupo (New Zealand electorate)

rightTaupō is a New Zealand Parliamentary electorate returning one Member of Parliament to the New Zealand House of Representatives. The current MP for Taupō is Louise Upston of the National Party. She has held this position since 2008.The current Taupō seat was created ahead of the introduction...

 for six years from 1972 to 1975, and from 1978 to 1981.(see Wilson & Wood)

He was once asked why there were so few engineers in Parliament, to which he replied: "Because engineers are realists and politicians are idealists."

Independent

In 1984 Ridley stood in the new Tongariro

Tongariro (New Zealand electorate)

Tongariro is a former New Zealand Parliamentary electorate, from 1984 to 1996.-History:The Tongariro electorate was created in 1984.In 1996, the first MMP election the electorate was included in the Taupo electorate.-Election results:-References:...

 electorate as an Independent

Independent (politician)

In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...

 but was not successful. A large proportion of the Tongariro electorate had been part of Taupo (McRobie & Levine, p. 117 and Ridley's letter to Mel Courtney

Mel Courtney

Melvyn Francis Courtney is a former Labour then Independent Member of Parliament for Nelson, in the South Island of New Zealand.-Member of Parliament:...

, 22 July 1984).