Sir Charles Bathurst Bledisloe, 1st Viscount, was born in 1867 and educated at Eton and Oxford.
He was a lawyer for 16 years before becoming an MP in 1910. He was Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Food in 1916, and Chairman of the Royal Commission on Sugar Supply from 1917 to 1919.
As Governor-General of New Zealand, he took a 30 per cent salary cut to match reduced Public Service rates during the depression.
He donated the Waitangi Estate to the nation and contributed funds for the restoration of the Treaty House. He set up the Waitangi National Trust Board to manage the estate.
He donated the Bledisloe Cup for New Zealand-Australia Rugby. He was created Viscount in June 1935 for his services in New Zealand.
Later, he became Chairman of the Royal Commission on Rhodesia-Nyasaland. He died in 1958.
Biographical information courtesy of NZ Almanack
Visit the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography for more information