David McLaren (1872 – 3 November 1939) was a

Mayor of Wellington The Mayor of Wellington is the head of the municipal government of the City of Wellington. The mayor presides over the Wellington City Council. The mayor is directly elected using the Single Transferable Vote method of proportional representati ...

and Member of Parliament in New Zealand.

Early years

Born in Glasgow,

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

and an operative in the boot trade. He enjoyed the poetry of

Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who hav ...

and was member of the Burns Club. On arriving in Wellington McLaren became involved in the Union movement seeking to improve the lot of lower paid workers. McLaren was Secretary of the Wellington Wharf Labourers Union in New Zealand. He was considered a moderate socialist. He was a member of the

Wellington City Council Wellington City Council is a territorial authority in New Zealand, governing the country's capital city Wellington, and ''de facto'' second-largest city (if the commonly considered parts of Wellington, the Upper Hutt, Porirua, Lower Hutt and ...

for 11 years from

1901 Events January * January 1 – The Crown colony, British colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria (Australia), Victoria and Western Australia Federation of Australia, federate as the Australia, ...

to 1912 and was elected Mayor of

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

from

1912 Events January * January 1 – The Republic of China (1912–49), Republic of China is established. * January 5 – The Prague Conference (6th All-Russian Conference of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party) opens. * January 6 ...

to 1913. McLaren was also member of the Hospital Board for 12 years. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

McLaren was appointed to the Military Service Board, and also served on the War Relief Association from its inception in 1914. At the end of the war he was appointed to the Influenza Epidemic Commission.

Member of Parliament

McLaren was one of nine candidates who contested the three-member electorate in the ; he came last with 7% of the vote. In the , McLaren stood in the electorate for the

Independent Political Labour League The Independent Political Labour League (IPLL) was a small New Zealand political party. It was the second organised political party to win a seat in the New Zealand House of Representatives, House of Representatives, and was a forerunner of the m ...

(IPLL). Two Liberal candidates received similar votes and both were eliminated in the first ballot. This left McLaren face a conservative candidate, Arthur Atkinson, in the second ballot, and with many liberal voters transferring their allegiance to McLaren, he became the only candidate of the IPLL who was ever elected to the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

. McLaren attended the Liberal Party's caucus, but maintained his independence in the house, voting both with and against them. In

1911 A notable ongoing event was the Comparison of the Amundsen and Scott Expeditions, race for the South Pole. Events January * January 1 – A decade after federation, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory ...

he was defeated by the conservative candidate, Alfred Newman, by 65 votes. At the

1914 This year saw the beginning of what became known as World War I, after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austrian throne was Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip. It als ...

contest, McLaren was again unsuccessful, this time by 48 votes. McLaren became estranged from the Labour Party during World War I. He was concerned about the rise of militant elements within the party. Later on, McLaren organised the wartime Welfare League and through this was associated with Edward Kellett. He died on 3 November 1939 at Wellington Public Hospital. He was survived by his wife and daughter who were living in London.

Notes

References

* *''No Mean City'' by Stuart Perry (1969, Wellington City Council) includes a paragraph and a portrait or photo for each mayor , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Mclaren, David 1872 births 1939 deaths Mayors of Wellington New Zealand trade unionists Scottish emigrants to New Zealand Politicians from Glasgow Independent Political Labour League MPs New Zealand Labour Party (1910) MPs United Labour Party (New Zealand) politicians Unsuccessful candidates in the 1902 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1911 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1914 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1905 New Zealand general election Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand MPs for Wellington electorates Wellington City Councillors Wellington Hospital Board members