George Hunter, JP (1788 – 19 July 1843) was the first

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 representat ...

, New Zealand, in 1842–43. He was also the first mayor in New Zealand.

Family

Born in McDuff Parish, Banffshire, Scotland he came to

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 metr ...

in the ship '' Duke of Roxburgh'' in 1840, with his wife Helen, six daughters and four sons. Hunter's wife was the daughter of David Souter, Chief Factor to the Right Honorable

James Duff, 4th Earl Fife James Duff, 4th Earl Fife, KT, GCH (6 October 1776 – 9 March 1857), was a Scot who became a Spanish general. Biography James was the elder son of the Hon. Alexander Duff, who succeeded his brother as third Earl Fife in 1809. He was educated ...

. He was described by Mary Swainson as having a bald head, circular spectacles and beaming eyes, and as exactly resembling Mr Pickwick of

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

The Pickwick Papers ''The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club'' (also known as ''The Pickwick Papers'') was Charles Dickens's first novel. Because of his success with '' Sketches by Boz'' published in 1836, Dickens was asked by the publisher Chapman & Hall to ...

''. He was one of the founders of the Pickwick Club in Wellington. Shortly after his arrival, Hunter asked Samuel Parnell, a carpenter he had met on the ship, to build him a store on

Lambton Quay Lambton Quay (once known as The Beach) is the heart of the central business district of Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand. Originally, as the name implies, it was the high-water line of the foreshore, and sometimes the sea would roll ...

, to which Parnell agreed, provided he only worked eight hours a day, the beginning of the

Eight Hour Day The eight-hour day movement (also known as the 40-hour week movement or the short-time movement) was a social movement to regulate the length of a working day, preventing excesses and abuses. An eight-hour work day has its origins in the 1 ...

in New Zealand. As there were only three carpenters in Wellington, Hunter reluctantly agreed to this condition. Hunter's eldest son, George Hunter and his grandson Sir George Hunter were both

Members 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 ...

. His great-great-great granddaughter Irvine Yardley was a Wellington City Councillor from 1974 to 1979.

Business interests

Prior to coming to New Zealand, Hunter had worked for a major mercantile establishment in

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

. He moved to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, where he worked as a merchant until leaving in 1839 for New Zealand with the New Zealand Company. He was in business on Willis Street with Kenneth Bethune as general and shipping merchants, and lived in Tinakori Road, where

Premier House Premier House ( mi, Te Whare Pirimia) is the official residence of the Prime Minister of New Zealand, located at 260 Tinakori Road, Thorndon, Wellington, New Zealand. A private house purchased for the prime minister's official residence when go ...

was later built. Hunter was the Storemaster-General of the

New Zealand Company The New Zealand Company, chartered in the United Kingdom, was a company that existed in the first half of the 19th century on a business model focused on the systematic colonisation of New Zealand. The company was formed to carry out the principl ...

In April 1840 he was appointed as a director of the Wellington Branch of the

Union Bank of Australia The Union Bank of Australia was an Australian bank in operation from 1837 to 1951. It was established in London in October 1837 with a subscribed capital of £500,000. The foundation of the bank had followed a visit to England by Van Diemen's Land ...

. In 1841 Hunter was appointed to the Committee of the New Zealand Flax Association.

Civic duty

Hunter's first appointment to public office in Wellington was as a member of the Management Committee of the

Port Nicholson A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ha ...

Exchange Room and Public Library. He was one of the first Justices of the Court in Wellington, which was founded in October 1841, having been appointed a Justice of the Peace some time earlier. Hunter was also involved in creating regulations for managing Wellington Harbour. With the passing of the Municipal Corporation Bill in 1842, Wellington was able to elect its own mayor and aldermen. On 3 October 1842, Hunter, with the most votes of the 12 aldermen elected to the new Wellington Borough, was declared elected. Initial business of the Council was the appointment of officers and organising its finances. In 1843, while attending a meeting to express sympathy for the victims of the

Wairau Affray The Wairau Affray of 17 June 1843, also called the Wairau Massacre in older histories, was the first serious clash of arms between British settlers and Māori in New Zealand after the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi and the only one to take ...

he caught a chill and died a few days later. His funeral was a significant one, attended by both local

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

and

Pākehā Pākehā (or Pakeha; ; ) is a Māori term for New Zealanders primarily of European descent. Pākehā is not a legal concept and has no definition under New Zealand law. The term can apply to fair-skinned persons, or to any non- Māori New Z ...

alike. He was buried at

Bolton Street Cemetery Bolton Street Memorial Park, formerly known as Bolton Street Cemetery, is the oldest cemetery in Wellington, New Zealand. Dating back to 1840, many notable people are buried here. Situated in the suburb of Thorndon, New Zealand, Thorndon, the Well ...

. He was succeeded as mayor by William Guyton.

References

* ''Wellington: Biography of a City'' by Redmer Yska (2006, Reed, Auckland) pages 27–28. * ''No Mean City'' by Stuart Perry (1969, Wellington City Council) includes a paragraph and a portrait or photo for each mayor. * ''The Birth of a City: Wellington 1840–1843'' by A. H. Carman (1970, Wright & Carman, Wellington) pages 108 & 171.

External links

''Early Mayors of Wellington'' (with photos, from WCC Archives)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunter, George New Zealand businesspeople 1788 births 1843 deaths Burials at Bolton Street Cemetery Wellington City Councillors Mayors of Wellington People from Banffshire Scottish emigrants to New Zealand 1840s in Wellington