![William Hutchison, 1882](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/31/William_Hutchison%2C_1882.jpg)
William Hutchison (1820 – 3 December 1905) was a New Zealand politician and journalist. Hutchison and his son
George
George may refer to:
People
* George (given name)
* George (surname)
* George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George
* George Washington, First President of the United States
* George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...
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 ...
.
Early life
Hutchison was born in
Banffshire
Banffshire ; sco, Coontie o Banffshire; gd, Siorrachd Bhanbh) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. The county town is Banff, although the largest settlement is Buckie to the west. It borders the Moray ...
, Scotland, and trained as a journalist.
On 12 August 1846, he married Helen Hutchison (née Aicheson) of
Inverness
Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histori ...
.
They emigrated to New Zealand in 1866 for him to take up employment with ''
The Southern Cross''.
Life in New Zealand
A journalist, Hutchison worked for ''The Southern Cross'' 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 ...
for some months, then bought the ''
Wanganui Chronicle
''The Whanganui Chronicle'' is New Zealand's oldest newspaper. Based in Whanganui, it celebrated 160 years of publishing in September 2016. It is the main daily paper for the Whanganui, Ruapehu and Rangitīkei regions, including the towns of Patea, ...
'' and started the ''Tribune'' in
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 me ...
.
He was
Mayor of Wanganui
The mayor of Whanganui (previously Wanganui) is the head of the Whanganui District Council. Since 1872, there have been 29 mayors. Andrew Tripe is the current mayor.
History
The Wanganui Town Board was first formed in 1862, and its first chairman ...
, New Zealand from 1873 to 1874.
Then he was
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 representati ...
from 1876 to 1877, and from 1879 to 1881.
As Mayor of Wellington, a central issue was whether the
Wellington Waterfront should be controlled by the city council or a separate entity.
He was a member of the
Wellington Provincial Council
Wellington Province, governed by the Wellington Provincial Council, was one of the provinces of New Zealand from 1853 until the abolition of provincial government in 1876. It covered much of the southern half of the North Island until November ...
from 1867 to 1876 for the Wanganui electorate.
He stood in the
1875 election in the electorate and was decisively beaten by the incumbent,
William Fitzherbert William Fitzherbert may refer to:
*Saint William of York, Archbishop of York
*William Fitzherbert (New Zealand politician) (1810–1891), New Zealand politician
* Sir William FitzHerbert, 1st Baronet (1748–1791), of Derbyshire
*William Fitzherb ...
.
He represented the
City of Wellington in Parliament from to 1881, then
Wellington South
Wellington South was a Canadian federal electoral district represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1867 to 1968. It was located in the province of Ontario. It was created by the British North America Act of 1867 as the "South Riding o ...
from to 1884, when he was defeated.
He moved to
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 unsuccessfully contested the
Bruce electorate in the , and the
Dunedin Central electorate in the where he was a controversial candidate. He then stood for the
Roslyn electorate in the
1887 general election.
He then represented the
City of Dunedin from
to 1896, when he was defeated.
He came fifth in the in the three-member Dunedin electorate.
Following the death of
Henry Fish
Henry Smith Fish (15 July 1838 – 23 September 1897) was a 19th-century New Zealand politician. For a time, he was a member of the Liberal Party. He was Mayor of Dunedin for a total of six years. Smith is remembered as one of the staunch opp ...
, he contested the resulting .
Alexander Sligo,
Hugh Gourley
Hugh Gourley (1825 – 16 December 1906) was a New Zealand politician born in Ireland. He was Mayor of Dunedin on two occasions and then appointed to the New Zealand Legislative Council for one seven-year term.
Early life
Gourley was born in ...
and Hutchison received 5045, 4065 and 2030 votes, respectively. He was a supporter of the
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
.
His son
George Hutchison represented
Taranaki
Taranaki is a region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano of Mount Taranaki, also known as Mount Egmont.
The main centre is the city of New Plymouth. The New Plymouth Dist ...
electorates in Parliament. For six years (from 1890 to 1896) they were in Parliament at the same time,
''and were often seen glaring at each other from opposite sides of the house.''
Another son, Sir
James Hutchison, was editor of the ''
Otago Daily Times
The ''Otago Daily Times'' (ODT) is a newspaper published by Allied Press Ltd in Dunedin, New Zealand. The ''ODT'' is one of the country's four main daily newspapers, serving the southern South Island with a circulation of around 26,000 and a c ...
''.
Death
Hutchison's wife died five years before him.
He had been ill for some time before he died on 3 December 1905 at his home in Queen Street, Dunedin.
He was survived by four sons and four daughters.
Hutchison Road in Wellington was named in his honour.
Notes
References
*
*''No Mean City'' by Stuart Perry (1969, Wellington City Council) includes a paragraph and a portrait or photo for each mayor.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hutchison, William
1820 births
1905 deaths
Mayors of Wellington
Wellington City Councillors
Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives
Members of the Wellington Provincial Council
Scottish emigrants to New Zealand
Mayors of Wanganui
New Zealand MPs for Dunedin electorates
Unsuccessful candidates in the 1884 New Zealand general election
Unsuccessful candidates in the 1887 New Zealand general election
Unsuccessful candidates in the 1896 New Zealand general election
People from Banffshire
19th-century New Zealand politicians