William Australia Graham (22 November 1841 – 9 May 1916) was a New Zealand surveyor, mediator, farmer, politician and mayor. He was born in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, on 22 November 1841, the third son of

George Graham George Graham (born 30 November 1944), nicknamed "Stroller", is a Scottish former Association football, football player and manager (association football), manager. In his successful playing career, he made 455 appearances in England's Football ...

. He went to Clewer House School,

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places Australia * Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area * Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland **Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...

, and

Hele's School Hele's School, formerly Plympton Grammar School, is a mixed Academy school and Sixth Form in the Plympton district of Plymouth, England, east of Plymouth city centre. Until 31 March 2011, Hele’s was a community school funded by the Local Ed ...

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

and returned home in 1854. William was a Government surveyor, and produced a plan for Hamilton East in 1864, just after the

invasion of the Waikato The Invasion of the Waikato became the largest and most important campaign of the 19th-century New Zealand Wars. Hostilities took place in the North Island of New Zealand between the military forces of the colonial government and a federation ...

. In 1865 his father was instructed to contact

Wiremu Tamihana Wiremu Tamihana Tarapipipi Te Waharoa ( – 27 December 1866), generally known as Wiremu Tamihana, was a leader of the Ngāti Hauā Māori iwi in nineteenth century New Zealand, and is sometimes known as the kingmaker for his role in the Māori Kin ...

. William acted as interpreter for General Carey, leading to Wiremu's submission to the

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

and acquiescence to the

. King Mahuta presented him with a p

atu Atu may refer to: * Atu, a character in Samoan mythology * Atu Bosenavulagi, an Australian rules footballer * Atu, Iran, a village in Iran * Atu Moli, New Zealand rugby union player * Atu'u is a village on Tutuila Island, American Samoa ATU may re ...

parāoa, in recognition of his mediation. In 1887 he advocated for fair treatment of

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 ...

land. From the mid-1860s to 1882, he and his brother, Samuel, developed over at

Tamahere Tamahere is a locality (located on a semi-rural ward that bears the same name) within Waikato District, New Zealand; on the outskirts of Hamilton. The majority of the Ward is zoned as Country Living, with a minimum lot size of 0.5ha. The lan ...

, on former Ngāti Haua land. In 1882 he was secretary of Waikato Farmers' Cooperative and, from 1884, chairman of the North New Zealand Farmers' Co-operative Association, formed to establish a

sugar beet A sugar beet is a plant whose root contains a high concentration of sucrose and which is grown commercially for sugar production. In plant breeding, it is known as the Altissima cultivar group of the common beet (''Beta vulgaris''). Together wi ...

industry. He influenced

Julius Vogel Sir Julius Vogel (24 February 1835 – 12 March 1899) was the eighth premier of New Zealand. His administration is best remembered for the issuing of bonds to fund railway construction and other public works. He was the first Jewish prime min ...

to introduce th
Beet-root Sugar Act 1884
The Coop was defunct by 1887. On 5 March 1872 William married Alice, eldest daughter of Walter Coombes, of the shipping company Coombes and Daldy. That day ships in Auckland harbour were decorated with bunting. Their 3 sons and 6 daughters included a son born on 11 February 1897, Alice Australia Buckleton, Hilda Herberta Blanche Hume, Mrs J. H. Hume, Mrs C. L. & Mrs A. C. Macdiarmid. and Cedric Kenny Onslow Graham, who was born on 21 December 1889 and died on 16 September 1916 at the

battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme ( French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place bet ...

, having ignored his father's advice to come home. Alice shared her husband's interest in the Anglican church and charitable work. He represented

Waikato Waikato () is a Regions of New Zealand, local government region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipa District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton City ...

Auckland Provincial Council The Auckland Province was a province of New Zealand from 1853 until the abolition of provincial government in 1876. Area The province covered roughly half of the North Island of New Zealand. It was the largest of the six initial provinces, both ...

from 24 November 1873 to 1876 and was elected Mayor of Hamilton on 27 November 1884, beating his predecessor, Robert Peat, by 84 votes to 56. As mayor he gained Hamilton of endowments from the government. He resigned as mayor on 21 May 1887, when he was insulted by a request for a public meeting to review a decision. He was also appointed borough representative on Auckland Hospital and Charitable Aid Board in 1885 and became chairman of the Waikato Board, when it was formed in 1886. He opposed attempts to establish cottage hospitals around Waikato, and, in 1887, arranged for purchase of the site still used by

Waikato Hospital Waikato Hospital is a major regional hospital in Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton, New Zealand. It provides specialised and emergency healthcare

. He retired from the hospital board in December 1888. In 1882 he moved to "The Lodge" on Hamilton's riverside. It had been a private girls' school, run by Mrs Watts, built on what had been

Ngāti Wairere Waikato Tainui, Waikato or Tainui is a group of Māori '' iwi'' based in Waikato Region, in the western central region of New Zealand's North Island. It is part of the larger Tainui confederation of Polynesian settlers who arrived to New Zealand ...

's Kirikiriroa pā. In his later years he was an insurance agent in 1887, a magistrate (1893) and continued his church work. He was reported as having a lengthy illness in 1904. He was badly injured in a buggy accident and died in his sleep on 9 May 1916, aged 74, after many months of failing health. Alice Graham died in October 1931. A marble pillar, marking the graves of the Graham family, remains at Hamilton East Cemetery.

References

External links

1865 photo

1890s portrait

Photo of William Graham and family outside their Hamilton house about 1900
{{DEFAULTSORT:Graham, William Australia 1841 births 1916 deaths New Zealand farmers New Zealand surveyors People from Auckland Mayors of Hamilton, New Zealand Burials at Hamilton East Cemetery