Eric Cameron Armishaw (3 December 1905 – 30 May 1971) was a New Zealand local-body politician and boxing referee.

Biography

Early life and career

Armishaw was born in Denniston on the West Coast in 1906. His family moved to Auckland when he was a child and was educated in New Lynn. After leaving school he gained employment with the

Farmers Trading Company The Farmers Trading Company Ltd (branded as Farmers) is a New Zealand mid-market department store chain. Headquartered in Flat Bush, Auckland, Farmers operates 59 stores across New Zealand, specialising in family fashion, beauty, homewares, fur ...

. In 1928 he married Brenda Mary Ann Arthur.

Boxing career

Armishaw was a keen boxer in his youth and maintained an interest in the sport his whole life. He fought his first match as a bantamweight aged 15. He won the Auckland amateur welterweight title in both 1925 and 1927. He won the New Zealand welterweight title (Morgan Cup) in 1927 after finishing runner-up in 1925. Later he was a referee in over 3,000 fights from the 1940s to the 1960s and controlled bouts at the

1950 British Empire Games The 1950 British Empire Games was the fourth staging of what is now called the Commonwealth Games. It was held in Auckland, New Zealand between 4 and 11 February 1950, after a 12-year gap from the third edition of the games. The main venue was ...

. He later became the first New Zealander to be on an international panel of referees. He retired from officiating and training in 1966 on health grounds. His brother Don Armishaw (1910-1957) was also a boxer and was a member of the Auckland Boxing Council.

Political career

Armishaw was a friend of

Dove-Myer Robinson Sir Dove-Myer Robinson (15 June 1901 – 14 August 1989) was Mayor of Auckland City from 1959 to 1965 and from 1968 to 1980, the longest tenure of any holder of the office. He was a colourful character and became affectionately known across New ...

, both were members of the Drainage League that opposed the Brown's Bay scheme supported by the then mayor

John Allum Sir John Andrew Charles Allum (27 January 1889 – 16 September 1972) was a New Zealand businessman and engineer, and was Mayor of Auckland City from 1941 to 1953. Biography Early life and career Allum was born in London and educated at Goldsm ...

. Later, he was elected to 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 ...

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 ...

as part of Robinson's

United Independents The United Independents were a centrist oriented local body electoral ticket in Auckland, New Zealand. The group was formed in 1953 by combining a selection process for council candidates backed by several civic interest groups and lobby groups ...

ticket and was re-elected in 1956. He was re-elected in both the 1959 and 1962 on the "Civic Reform" ticket that briefly succeeded the United Independents. In 1965 he was returned to the council as an independent and in 1968 he was on the Citizens & Ratepayers ticket. He was a popular councillor and at both the

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

and

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – " Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * Janu ...

local elections he "topped the poll", receiving more votes than any other candidate. He was also a member of the

Auckland Harbour Board The Auckland Harbour Board was a public body that operated the ports of both Auckland and Onehunga from 1871 to 1988 and was dissolved in 1989. Its successor organisation is Ports of Auckland, which assumed the possessions and responsibilities of ...

, the Metropolitan Milk Board and in 1957 was on the board of control of the

New Zealand Grand Prix The New Zealand Grand Prix, sometimes known as the New Zealand International Grand Prix, is an annual motor racing event held in New Zealand. First held in 1950, it is best known for hosting rounds of the Tasman Series in the 1960s and 1970s. It ...

. He was opposed to the practice of tipping after seeing the practice used while on a trip overseas to

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north ...

and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

. Labelling it an "iniquitous habit" he advocated for New Zealand to adopt the

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian ; ; previously also known as Otaheite) is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and the nearest major landmass is Austra ...

an practice of having no tipping signs placed at airports and in hotels to signal to tourists to refrain from doing so.

Death and legacy

He died at his home in Auckland on 30 May 1971, aged 65, survived by his wife and two sons. Both the Eric Armishaw Reserve in

Point Chevalier Point Chevalier (; commonly known as Point Chev and an original colonial name of Point Bunbury after Thomas Bunbury) is a residential suburb and peninsula in the city of Auckland in the north of New Zealand. It is located five kilometres to ...

and the Armishaw Building in Albert Street in the central city are named after him.

References

Sources

External links

Boxing refereeing record
{{DEFAULTSORT:Armishaw, Eric Cameron 1905 births 1971 deaths New Zealand male boxers Boxing referees Auckland City Councillors 20th-century New Zealand politicians People from the West Coast, New Zealand Auckland Harbour Board members New Zealand sportsperson-politicians