Hugh Ayson
Hugh Fraser Ayson was a New Zealand lawyer, judge and public administrator. He was Resident Commissioner of the Cook Islands in two spells between 1923 and 1943Biography
Ayson was born in Toiro, near Balclutha in South Otago, New Zealand on 16 November 1884. He was educated in Wairarapa, before attending Victoria University College. He started work as a lawyer in 1905, becoming a partner in Bunny and Ayson.
In 1916, Ayson was appointed a judge in the Native Land Court and the High Court of the Cook Islands at Rarotonga, also serving as Deputy Resident Commissioner to the islands. In 1918 he returned to New Zealand to become a judge in the Native Land court in Rotorua.
Ayson then returned to the Cook Islands to become Resident Commissioner of the Cook Islands from 1923 to 1937. He was succeeded by Stephen Smith, but returned to replace Smith the following year, going on to serve until 1943.
He was appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in 1929, and in 1935 he was awarded the King George V Silver Jubilee Medal.
