Sir George Shirtcliffe (1862-20 July 1941) was a New Zealand businessman and politician.

Biography

Shirtcliffe was born in 1862 at

Worksop Worksop ( ) is a market town in the Bassetlaw District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is located east-south-east of Sheffield, close to Nottinghamshire's borders with South Yorkshire and Derbyshire, on the River Ryton and not far from the nor ...

, Nottinghamshire, England the eldest son and third child of Caroline née Unwin and her husband John Shirtcliffe. His parents emigrated to New Zealand bringing his sisters Ellen Elizabeth and Frances Lewis with him on the emigrant ship ''

Captain Cook James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean an ...

'' which arrived at Lyttelton on 1 September 1863. They settled in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

and six more children were added to the family. He received his education at Riccarton School and later at Christ's College before beginning his career in business as a cadet at the

Timaru Timaru (; mi, Te Tihi-o-Maru) is a port city in the southern Canterbury Region of New Zealand, located southwest of Christchurch and about northeast of Dunedin on the eastern Pacific coast of the South Island. The Timaru urban area is home to ...

office of the Government Land Office in 1877. After one year he joined the National Mortgage and Agency Company as a junior until 1880 when he was appointed as an accountant. In 1882 he was attained a position as an accountant for the Canterbury Farmers' Co-operative Association and was promoted to be its manager in 1884. Shirtcliffe married Jane Barbara Massey in Timaru on 30 January 1889. She raised their seven children before she died in 1926 though one of the seven, a twin, died as an infant. He remarried Margaret Elise Priest the following year. He became a partner in, and manager of, the import and export firm A. S. Paterson and Co., Ltd. in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

in 1890. He was managing director of the firm from 1912 to 1919 and in 1927 was appointed chairman of directors until he retired due to health. He was a member of the Wellington

Chamber of Commerce A chamber of commerce, or board of trade, is a form of business network. For example, a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to ad ...

including serving as president of the chamber's council from 1904 to 1907, and one of its four life members. From 1906 to 1908 he was representative of the Chamber of Commerce on the

Wellington Harbour Board (Strong but true) , predecessor = , merged = , successor = , formation = , founder = , founding_location = , dissolved = , merger = , type ...

. He was also a member of the original executive of the Wellington branch of the

Navy League of New Zealand {{More citations needed, date=September 2022 Navy League of New Zealand is a maritime organisation established in 1896 in New Zealand. Navy League of New Zealand Branches As of 2012 there are five constituent branches of Navy League of New Zealan ...

He was a foundation member (and later vice-president) of

New Zealand Red Cross New Zealand Red Cross or Ripeka Whero Aotearoa is a humanitarian organisation, which has more than 15,000 members and volunteers. In New Zealand, Red Cross delivers core community services, such as Meals on Wheels, Community Transport, Refugee ...

. He was a member of the executive of the War Relief Association of Wellington from 1915 until 1934, when indifferent health necessitated his retirement. At the 1907 local elections Shirtcliffe was elected to 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 ...

on the

Citizens League The Citizens League is a nonpartisan think tank based in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area of Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and ...

ticket. He was re-elected for two further terms until 1913 when he did not seek re-election. He was also a member of multiple government commissions, including the 1921 Hospital Commission, the 1922 and 1924 Taxation Commissions, the 1931 Hawke's Bay Rehabilitation Committee, the 1932 National Expenditure Commission (of which he was the chairman of) and was chairman of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research until retiring from the position in 1935. He was well-known for philanthropy such as endowing £20,000 to the

University of New Zealand The University of New Zealand was New Zealand's sole degree-granting university from 1874 to 1961. It was a collegiate university embracing several constituent institutions at various locations around New Zealand. After it was dissolved in 196 ...

, to establish a fund for scholarship, and donating many works of art to the

National Art Gallery List of national galleries is a list of national art galleries. {{tocright Africa *Iziko South African National Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa *National Art Gallery of Namibia, Windhoek, Namibia The Americas *Galería Nacional, San Juan, Puerto ...

. He gave £5,000 to the city in 1926 in order to build a children's playground in Wellington and was a frequent donor to the

Anglican Church Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the ...

in Wellington. Shirtcliffe, who was married twice, died in 1941 and was survived by his second wife, two sons and three daughters.

Honours

At the 1919 Birthday Honours he was appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

for services in connection with the New Zealand Branch of the British Red Cross Society and Order of St. John of Jerusalem. He was knighted as a

Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

for public services in the

1936 New Year Honours The 1936 New Year Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the United Kingdom and British Empire. They were announced on 31 December 1935. The recipients of honour ...

Notes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shirtcliffe, George 1862 births 1941 deaths English emigrants to New Zealand New Zealand accountants New Zealand businesspeople People educated at Christ's College, Christchurch Wellington City Councillors Wellington Harbour Board members 20th-century New Zealand politicians New Zealand Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire People from Worksop