George Witty (1856 – 21 November 1941) was a New Zealand

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for

Riccarton Riccarton may refer to: New Zealand * Riccarton, New Zealand, a suburb of Christchurch ** Riccarton (New Zealand electorate), the electorate named after it ** The location of Riccarton Race Course * a locality on the Taieri Plains in Otago Scotlan ...

, in the

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

Early life

He was born in

North Ferriby North Ferriby is a village and civil parish in the Haltemprice area of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. History Humber Estuary "The archaeology of the intertidal wetlands of the Humber Estuary is of international importance, and include ...

, in the

East Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a ceremonial county and unitary authority area in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, South Yorkshire to t ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and came to New Zealand in 1875 with two shillings in his pocket. He was a farmer and a director of the local sale yards company 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 / ...

Member of Parliament

George Witty represented the

electorate in the

New Zealand House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the sole chamber of the New Zealand Parliament. The House passes Law of New Zealand, laws, provides Ministers of the New Zealand Government, ministers to form Cabinet of New Zealand, Cabinet, and supervises the ...

for twenty three years from 1902 to 1925 . Witty was a

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

but at the 1922 election he stood as an

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

and was successful. Witty was a member of the Legislative Council from 1925 to 28 October 1932. Witty and Leonard Isitt were both appointed to the Legislative Council by

Gordon Coates Joseph Gordon Coates (3 February 1878 – 27 May 1943) served as the 21st prime minister of New Zealand from 1925 to 1928. He was the third successive Reform prime minister since 1912. Born in rural Northland, Coates grew up on a cattle run ...

on 28 October 1925; shortly before the 1925 election on 4 November. Both were Liberals but their retirement removed "a source of some bitterness from the Party’s ranks (Coates rewarded them with seats in the Legislative Council the day after the election)".

was Reform, and both of their former seats went to

Reform Reform ( lat, reformo) means the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The use of the word in this way emerges in the late 18th century and is believed to originate from Christopher Wyvill#The Yorkshire Associati ...

candidates. After Witty,

Bert Kyle Herbert Seton Stewart Kyle (29 August 1873 – 5 January 1955) was a member of the Reform Party (New Zealand), Reform Party and since 1936 New Zealand National Party, National Party Member of Parliament in New Zealand. Early life and professio ...

of the Reform Party represented the Riccarton electorate. In 1935, Witty was awarded the

King George V Silver Jubilee Medal The King George V Silver Jubilee Medal is a commemorative medal, instituted to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the accession of King George V. Issue This medal was awarded as a personal souvenir by King George V to commemorate his Silver J ...

. He received the

King George VI Coronation Medal The King George VI Coronation Medal was a commemorative medal, instituted to celebrate the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. Issue This medal was awarded as a personal souvenir of King George VI's coronation. It was awarded to th ...

in 1937, and served as chairman of the Paparua County Council.''The New Zealand Roll of Honour: New Zealanders who have served their country in Peace and War 1845-1995'' (Edited by Alister Taylor, p.1165, 1998, Roll of Honour Publications, Auckland)

Death

Witty died in Christchurch on 21 November 1941, aged 85 years.

External links

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References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Witty, George 1856 births 1941 deaths New Zealand Liberal Party MPs Independent MPs of New Zealand Members of the New Zealand Legislative Council Mayors of places in Canterbury, New Zealand New Zealand farmers New Zealand businesspeople New Zealand people of English descent People from North Ferriby New Zealand MPs for Christchurch electorates Local politicians in New Zealand Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives Colony of New Zealand people