Patrick Thomas Curran (12 December 1908 – 26 June 1985) was a New Zealand trade unionist and local-body politician.

Biography

Early life and career

Curran was born in Ashburton in 1908 to Maurice Curran and Elizabeth Trevathan. He was a motoring enthusiast and together with his brother David, he established a motor dealership in Ashburton. Curran then married Phyllis and moved to Auckland shortly before

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, David likewise moved to Auckland in 1946. He also had a pilot's license and in 1940 enlisted in the Air Force during World War II and he served in the Pacific. In 1945 he was Mentioned in dispatches and awarded the Bronze Star Medal.

Political career

Curran was a sympathizer of John A. Lee and joined the Democratic Labour Party (DLP). In the he stood as the DLP candidate for the

Auckland West The former New Zealand parliamentary New Zealand electorates, electorate on the western inner city of Auckland, was known as City of Auckland West from 1861 to 1890, and then Auckland West from 1905 to 1946. Population centres From 1861 to 18 ...

, placing third out of four candidates. Curran later left the DLP and joined the Labour Party. He stood for election to the New Zealand House of Representatives for in , finishing second. He was Labour's candidate in the election in and later in the election in , finishing runner-up on both occasions. In 1947 he stood unsuccessfully for the

Auckland City Council Auckland City Council was the local government authority for Auckland City, New Zealand, from 1871 to 1 November 2010, when it and Auckland's six other city and district councils were amalgamated to form the Auckland Council. It was an elected b ...

in a contest which saw all Labour candidates defeated. He stood on the Labour ticket again in

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito is chosen President of Yug ...

and was successful, and was re-elected in

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim Elliot and Pete Fleming, ar ...

. During his time on the council he was chairman of the traffic committee and oversaw the introduction of

Traffic light Traffic lights, traffic signals, or stoplights – known also as robots in South Africa are signalling devices positioned at road intersections, pedestrian crossings, and other locations in order to control flows of traffic. Traffic light ...

s to Auckland. In 1958 he introduced the

Barnes Dance A pedestrian scramble, also known as scramble intersection and scramble corner (Canada), 'X' Crossing (UK), diagonal crossing (US), (Japan), exclusive pedestrian interval, or Barnes Dance, is a type of traffic signal movement that temporarily s ...

system of pedestrian crossing to solve intersection blockages, the first in New Zealand was situated Queen Street. In May 1959 he was injured in a three-car accident near Sanson in which three people were killed. One of the others injured was

Western Maori Western Maori was one of New Zealand's four original parliamentary Māori electorates established in 1868, along with Northern Maori, Eastern Maori and Southern Maori. In 1996, with the introduction of MMP, the Maori electorates were updated, ...

Iriaka Rātana Iriaka Matiu Rātana (née Te Rio; 25 February 1905 – 21 December 1981) was a New Zealand politician and Rātana morehu who won the Western Maori electorate for Labour in 1949. She succeeded her husband Matiu Rātana to become the first wo ...

. He and the others injured in the crash were taken to

Palmerston North Palmerston North (; mi, Te Papa-i-Oea, known colloquially as Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatu Plains, the city is near the north bank of the ...

Hospital. He was treated for head injuries and fractured ribs but did not receive any serious injuries and recovered soon after. He stood for the mayoralty in a

1957 by-election 1957 (Roman numerals, MCMLVII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday, common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, t ...

as an independent, but polled poorly receiving only 3.35 percent of the vote. He did not stand for the council in 1959, but stood again one final time in 1965 as an independent, but was unsuccessful.

Later life and death

Curran died at his home in

Saint Heliers Saint Heliers is an affluent seaside suburb of Auckland with a population of as of This suburb is popular amongst visitors for the beaches, cafés, and views of Rangitoto Island, the distinctive volcanic island in the Hauraki Gulf. St. Helier ...

in 1985, survived by his wife and three children.

Notes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Curran, Pat 1908 births 1985 deaths New Zealand trade unionists New Zealand military personnel of World War II Auckland City Councillors New Zealand Labour Party politicians Democratic Labour Party (New Zealand) politicians Unsuccessful candidates in the 1943 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1949 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1951 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1954 New Zealand general election 20th-century New Zealand politicians Royal New Zealand Air Force personnel New Zealand justices of the peace