William White (1848 – 19 July 1900) was a 19th-century New Zealand Member of Parliament in the Sydenham electorate, and Mayor of

Sydenham Sydenham may refer to: Places Australia * Sydenham, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney ** Sydenham railway station, Sydney * Sydenham, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne ** Sydenham railway line, the name of the Sunbury railway line, Melbourne ...

Early life

White was born in

Macclesfield Macclesfield is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Bollin in the east of the county, on the edge of the Cheshire Plain, with Macclesfield Forest to its east ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, in 1848. His parents were William White Snr. and Elizabeth. Together with his younger brother Leonard, they left England on board the ''William Hyde'' on 21 October 1851. They arrived in Lyttelton on 5 February 1852. His working career started with the Christchurch Gas Company. He then entered into construction contracts for the Southbridge and Pleasant Point branch railways. He then entered his father's business, which he took over in 1885, as a timber and coal merchant.

Political career

Member of Parliament

In the 1881 general election, White contested the newly created Sydenham electorate against Charles Clark, James Treadwell and J. R. Andrew. They received 662, 163, 111 and 70 votes, respectively. With a majority of 499, White was returned to Parliament. In the 1884 general election, White and Scott contested the Sydenham electorate, receiving 776 and 462 votes. The incumbent was thus re-elected. He resigned in March 1886 following medical advice that he ought to retire from public life for one or two years.

Sydenham Borough Council

White was a member of the

Borough Council from 1878 to 1892. In 1883–1885, he was the Mayor of Sydenham.

Death and commemoration

White died in July 1900, either on the 18th or 19th. At the time, he was a resident of the Christchurch suburb of New Brighton. He was buried on 21 July 1900. Rapaki Road in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

Port Hills The Port Hills are a range of hills in Canterbury Region, so named because they lie between the city of Christchurch and its port at Lyttelton. They are an eroded remnant of the Lyttelton volcano, which erupted millions of years ago. The hi ...

was originally called Whites Road after William White Snr. His father built this road, which is these days one of the busiest recreational trails up into the Port Hills, in order to give better access to the Mount Pleasant run that he owned in partnership with Richard May Morten.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:White, William 1849 births People from Macclesfield 1900 deaths Burials at Linwood Cemetery, Christchurch Mayors of places in Canterbury, New Zealand Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand MPs for Christchurch electorates 19th-century New Zealand politicians Lyttelton Harbour Board members