Thomas Forsyth (17 May 1868 – 6 February 1941) was a Reform Party Member of Parliament in New Zealand.

Early life

Forsyth was born 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 1868. He was the third son of James Forsyth of Dunedin. He received his education at schools in Dunedin and attended the

University of Otago , image_name = University of Otago Registry Building2.jpg , image_size = , caption = University clock tower , motto = la, Sapere aude , mottoeng = Dare to be wise , established = 1869; 152 years ago , type = Public research collegiate u ...

. He was prominent in

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and represented

Otago Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

and

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 ...

Professional life

In 1884, Forsyth started to work for Dodgshun and Company, woollen importers. In 1891, when the head office transferred to

, he moved to New Zealand's capital city. He was the manager of Dodgshun and Co. from 1894 to 1898. In 1898, he became the accountant and secretary for the Te Aro House Drapery Company Ltd. He became that company's assistant manager in 1905 and general manager in 1914, a position that he held until 1922, when he started his private accountancy practice.

Public roles

Forsyth was a member of the Wellington Education Board for 18 years, and for 16 of those, he was its chairman. He held governance roles with the

Technical College An institute of technology (also referred to as: technological university, technical university, university of technology, technological educational institute, technical college, polytechnic university or just polytechnic) is an institution of te ...

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, and Victoria College. Forsyth was first elected onto

Wellington City Council Wellington City Council is a territorial authority in New Zealand, governing the country's capital city Wellington, and ''de facto'' second-largest city (if the commonly considered parts of Wellington, the Upper Hutt, Porirua, Lower Hutt and ...

in 1919 and had almost continuous membership until his death. The Civic League nominated him as their candidate for the 1925

mayoralty In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

, but he withdrew in favour of

Charles Norwood Sir Charles John Boyd Norwood (23 August 1871 – 26 November 1966) was a prominent Wellington New Zealand-based businessman with interests throughout New Zealand and Australia. He was a civic leader, his knighthood was awarded for public servic ...

, who was the successful candidate. Forsyth first stood in a general election in , when he was one of four candidates in the electorate. He came second, beaten by

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

's Alec Monteith. He won the Wellington East electorate in the 1925 general election by defeating Monteith. Forsyth was defeated in the next general election in

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly proving the existence of DNA. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris Bazhanov, J ...

by Labour's

Bob Semple Robert Semple (21 October 1873 – 31 January 1955) was a union leader and later Minister of Public Works for the first Labour Government of New Zealand. He is also known for creating the Bob Semple tank. Early life He was born in Sofala, New ...

. He stood once more in but was again beaten by Semple. In 1935, he was awarded the King George V Silver Jubilee Medal.

Family and death

On 30 August 1894, Forsyth married Elizabeth Smith at Dunedin. She was the eldest daughter of Alexander Smith of Gracefield in

County Londonderry County Londonderry ( Ulster-Scots: ''Coontie Lunnonderrie''), also known as County Derry ( ga, Contae Dhoire), is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the thirty two counties of Ireland and one of the nine counties of Ulster. B ...

, Ireland. Elizabeth Forsyth died on 26 September 1935 at their Wellington home and was buried at

Karori Cemetery Karori Cemetery is New Zealand's second largest cemetery, located in the Wellington suburb of Karori. History Karori Cemetery opened in 1891 to address overcrowding at Bolton Street Cemetery. In 1909, it received New Zealand's first cremato ...

in Wellington. Thomas Forsyth died at his son's house in

Masterton Masterton ( mi, Whakaoriori), a large town in the Greater Wellington Region of New Zealand, operates as the seat of the Masterton District (a territorial authority or local-government district). It is the largest town in the Wairarapa, a r ...

on 6 February 1941. He is also buried at Karori Cemetery. He was survived by one son and three daughters.

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Forsyth, Thomas 1868 births 1941 deaths Otago rugby union players Wellington rugby union players Reform Party (New Zealand) MPs New Zealand MPs for Wellington electorates Wellington City Councillors Unsuccessful candidates in the 1922 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1928 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1931 New Zealand general election Burials at Karori Cemetery Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives