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John Bryce (14 September 1833 – 17 January 1913) was a New Zealand politician from 1871 to 1891 and Minister of Native Affairs from 1879 to 1884. In his attitudes to Māori land questions, he favoured strict legal actions against Māori opposed to alienation, and he directed the invasion of Parihaka and the arrest of the movement's leaders.
Described as stubborn and embittered to Māori questions, Bryce was the public face of a harsh policy towards Māori, but the Premier and other cabinet members supported his actions.
After a short time in the Australian gold-fields in 1851, he purchased a farm near Wanganui and remained a farmer for the next fifty years.
The incident in which Bryce was alleged to have taken part was reported as an attack on women and children in the "History of New Zealand" published in 1883 and led to a successful libel action against the publisher George William Rusden. Ex-Governor Arthur Hamilton-Gordon supported publisher Rusden, but when the case went to trial, Bryce won and was awarded damages as it was proved no women were present at Handley's woolshed, and Bryce denied being directly involved. Gordon's involvement and the damaging trial publicity delayed his elevation to the British peerage.Historical Frictions. M. Belgrave. Auckland University Press 2005.P262
Rolleston was to be Native Minister only until October 1881. In his last act, he proclaimed that Parihaka inhabitants had fourteen days to comply with the law or face confiscation of all their lands. Bryce became Native Minister, and on 5 November 1881, he was at Parihaka at the head of 1,600 Armed Constabulary to arrest the leaders and disperse the village.
In April 1882, Premier John Hall privately criticised Bryce to the Attorney General and said he would resign 'unless Bryce turned over a new leaf'. When Bryce heard of this, he resigned, and the Hall Government fell. Bryce was re-appointed Native Minister under Premiers Frederick Whitaker and Harry Atkinson from 1882 to 1884.
Bryce lost his Waitotara seat in 1887. In 1889, Bryce was re-elected in 1889, this time to , and then in 1890 to Waikato. Some of his parliamentary supporters considered him a possible replacement for Premier Harry Atkinson. Briefly, he was Leader of the Opposition, but resigned from parliament in 1891 for refusing to withdraw his criticism of the Premier. The Speaker, William Steward, ruled the criticism unparliamentary. When Bryce refused to withdraw the words, "the House passed a vote of censure on him for not obeying the chair. He left the chamber, and never came back."
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