Sir Robert Stout, Premier of New Zealand

Robert Stout was born in Lerwick in 1844, the son of a merchant. He left school at 13, worked as a schoolteacher and surveyor, then emigrated to Otago, New Zealand in 1863. He read law, entered parliament, and twice served as Premier of New Zealand (1884–87). A radical liberal, he championed women's suffrage — New Zealand became the first country in the world to give women the vote in 1893 — and free education. Knighted in 1886, Chief Justice from 1899 to 1926, he never lost his Shetland accent.