Robert Walls (18 September 1884 – 6 November 1953) was a New Zealand businessman and politician of the Labour Party.

Biography

Early life and career

Walls was born and educated 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 1884. He was educated locally at High Street and Union Street Schools before proceeding to serve a carpentry apprenticeship. He then entered trade as a cabinetmaker, after which in partnership with John McCracken, purchased ownership of Laidlaw and Sons, a piano repairing and tuning business, renaming the business as McCracken and Walls, Ltd. The business evolved to be an electronics retailer and was at the forefront of modern communication technology in the 1920s and 1930s. He was for a time the owner and proprietor of the private Dunedin radio station 4ZM, which was taken over by the government and closed down in the late 1930s. It was from 4ZM that Methodist minister Leslie Neale broadcast his famous Radio Church of the Helping Hand. The message was heard by tens of thousands of working-class Dunedinites who were living in poverty during the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

. Neale preached the

Christian Socialist Christian socialism is a religious and political philosophy that blends Christianity and socialism, endorsing left-wing politics and socialist economics on the basis of the Bible and the teachings of Jesus. Many Christian socialists believe capi ...

"message of the Carpenter" with the backing of Walls (himself a former carpenter). He was a

Freemason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

and was Master of the Dunedin Lodge from 1917 to 1918. He was subsequently appointed Deputy District Grand Master of Otago and Southland. He was a trustee of the Dunedin Savings Bank and served as its president in 1944 and concurrently to that was chairman of the National Savings Committee. He was also vice-president of the Otago High School Boys' Cricket Club, a member of the Otago Land Sales Committee and the Dunedin District Health Camp Committee and was also for many years a member of the Dunedin Orphans' Club. He was also a justice of the peace.

Political career

He served from 1938 as a

Dunedin City Council The Dunedin City Council ( mi, Kaunihera ā-Rohe o Ōtepoti) is the local government authority for Dunedin in New Zealand. It is a territorial authority elected to represent the people of Dunedin. Since October 2022, the Mayor of Dunedin is Jules ...

lor and member of both the Otago Hospital Board and Otago Harbour Board. Walls was chairman of the council's Water Committee for many years. At the 1944 elections he "topped the poll" for both the City Council and the Harbour Board, and was consequently offered the role of deputy mayor, but declined in accordance with Labour Party policy, which forbade his acceptance of the office. He had previously stood for local office unsuccessfully. He represented the Dunedin electorates of

Dunedin North Dunedin North, also known as North Dunedin, is a major inner suburb ''Inner suburb'' is a term used for a variety of suburban communities that are generally located very close to the centre of a large city (the inner city and central bus ...

from a to 1946, and then

North Dunedin Dunedin North, also known as North Dunedin, is a major inner suburb of the New Zealand city of Dunedin, located northeast of the city centre. It contains many of the city's major institutions, including the city's university, polytechnic, ma ...

from

1946 Events January * January 6 - The 1946 North Vietnamese parliamentary election, first general election ever in Vietnam is held. * January 7 – The Allies recognize the Austrian republic with its 1937 borders, and divide the country into f ...

to 1953 when he died. Among both colleagues and constituents he was well regarded for his abilities, courtesy and kindness. In 1953, Walls was awarded the

Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal The Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal (french: link=no, Médaille du couronnement de la Reine Élizabeth II) is a commemorative medal instituted to celebrate the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II on 2 June 1953. Award This medal was awarded a ...

Death and legacy

Walls died in

on 6 November 1953, aged 69. He had been in bad health for some time. His grandson

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Frankish language, Old Frankish and is a Compound (linguistics), compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' an ...

was also MP for Dunedin North, from 1975 to 1978 (as a National Party member) and was later

mayor of Dunedin The Mayor of Dunedin is the head of the local government, the city council of Dunedin, New Zealand. The Mayor's role is "to provide leadership to the other elected members of the territorial authority, be a leader in the community and perform c ...

from 1989 to 1995.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walls, Robert 1884 births 1953 deaths Cabinetmakers New Zealand Freemasons New Zealand Labour Party MPs New Zealand MPs for Dunedin electorates Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives Dunedin City Councillors Members of district health boards in New Zealand New Zealand justices of the peace