Stephen John Smith (1887 – 3 November 1948) was a New Zealand public administrator. He served as Resident Commissioner of the Cook Islands from 1937 until 1938.
Biography Born in 1887,Apirana Ngata (2013) Na to Hoa Aroha, from Your Dear Friend Auckland University Press, p288 Smith entered the New Zealand civil service as a young man. During World War I he was part of the New Zealand-led occupation of Western Samoa, where he rose to the position of secretary to the military governor. After returning to New Zealand, he was deputy head of the Department of External Affairs.
Smith subsequently became Secretary of the Cook Islands Department in New Zealand in 1928.Resident Commissioner in Cook Is. Pacific Islands Monthly, June 1937, p6 He was awarded the King George V Silver Jubilee Medal in 1935, and was appointed as Resident Commissioner of the Cook Islands in 1937. However, the following year he was replaced by his predecessor Hugh Fraser Ayson and returned to New Zealand.Cook Islands control Pacific Islands Monthly, July 1938, p8 He retired from public service shortly afterwards."S.J.S." retires Pacific Islands Monthly, October 1938, p4
He died in Whanganui in November 1948.Death of Mr. S. J. Smith Pacific Islands Monthly, December 1948, p22
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