George Hunter (mayor)

George Hunter
George Hunter in c. 1840
1st Mayor of Wellington
In office 1842–1843
Succeeded by	William Guyton
Personal details
Born	1788 McDuff Parish, Banffshire, Scotland
Died	19 July 1843 Wellington, New Zealand
Resting place	Bolton Street Cemetery
Relations	George Hunter (grandson)
Children	George Hunter

George Hunter Esq., JP (1788 – 19 July 1843) was the first Mayor of Wellington, New Zealand in 1842–43. He was also the first mayor in New Zealand.

Family

Born in McDuff Parish, Banffshire, Scotland he came to Wellington in the ship Duke of Roxburgh in 1840, with his wife Helen, six daughters and four sons.^[1][2] Hunter's wife was the daughter of David Souter, Esq, Chief Factor to the Right Honorable James Duff, 4th Earl Fife.^[3]

He was described by Mary Swainson as having a bald head, circular spectacles and beaming eyes, and as exactly resembling Mr Pickwick of Charles Dickens The Pickwick Papers. He was one of the founders of the Pickwick Club in Wellington.

Shortly after his arrival, Hunter asked Samuel Parnell, a carpenter he had met on the ship, to build him a store on Lambton Quay, to which Parnell agreed, provided he only worked eight hours a day, the beginning of the Eight Hour Day in New Zealand. As there were only three carpenters in Wellington, Hunter reluctantly agreed to this condition.^[4]

Hunter's eldest son, George Hunter and his grandson Sir George Hunter were both Members of Parliament.

Business interests

Prior to coming to New Zealand, Hunter had worked for a major mercantile establishment in Aberdeen. He moved to London where he worked as a merchant until leaving in 1839 for New Zealand with the New Zealand Company.

He was in business on Willis Street with Kenneth Bethune as general and shipping merchants, and lived in Tinakori Road, where Premier House was later built. Hunter was the Storemaster-General of the New Zealand Company^[5] In April 1840 he was appointed as a Director of the Wellington Branch of the Union Bank of Australia.^[6] In 1841 Hunter was appointed to the Committee of the New Zealand Flax Association.^[7]

Civic duty

Hunter's first appointment to public office in Wellington was as a member of the Management Committee of the Port Nicholson Exchange Room and Public Library.^[8] He was one of the first Justices of the Court in Wellington, which was founded in October 1841, having been appointed a Justice of the Peace some time earlier.^[9] Hunter was also involved in creating regulations for managing Wellington Harbour.^[10]

With the passing of the Municipal Corporation Bill in 1842, Wellington was able to elect its own mayor and aldermen.^[11] On 3 October 1842, Hunter, with the most votes of the 12 aldermen elected to the new Wellington Borough, was declared elected.^[12] Initial business of the Council was the appointment of officers and organising its finances.^[13]

In 1843, while attending a meeting to express sympathy for the victims of the Wairau Affray he caught a chill and died a few days later.^[4] His funeral was a significant one, attended by both local Māori and Pākehā alike. He was buried at Bolton Street Cemetery.^[14]

He was succeeded as mayor by William Guyton.

References

• Wellington: Biography of a City by Redmer Yska (2006, Reed, Auckland) pages 27–28.
• No Mean City by Stuart Perry (1969, Wellington City Council) includes a paragraph and a portrait or photo for each mayor.
• The Birth of a City: Wellington 1840-1843 by A. H. Carman (1970, Wright & Carman, Wellington) pages 108 & 171.

External links

• Early Mayors of Wellington (with photos, from WCC Archives)

Mayors of Wellington City
Mayors	elected by councillors George Hunter William Guyton Joseph Dransfield Charles Borlase William Sefton Moorhouse elected at large William Hutchison Joseph Dransfield George Allen William Hutchison George Fisher Arthur Winton Brown Samuel Brown John Duthie Charles Johnston Arthur Winton Brown Francis Bell Alfred Brandon Charles Luke George Fisher Francis Bell John Blair John Aitken Thomas William Hislop Alfred Newman Thomas Wilford David McLaren John Luke Robert Wright Charles Norwood George Troup Thomas Hislop Will Appleton Rob Macalister Frank Kitts Michael Fowler Ian Lawrence James Belich Fran Wilde Mark Blumsky Kerry Prendergast Celia Wade-Brown Justin Lester
Mayoral elections	Annual term 1875 1876† 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 Biennial term 1899 1901 1903† 1905 1907 1909 1910‡ 1911† 1912‡ 1913 1915 1917† 1919 1921 1923 1925 1927 1929 1931 1933† Triennial term 1935 1938 1941 1944 1947 1950 1953 1956 1959 1962 1965 1968 1971 1974 1977 1980 1983 1986 1989 1992 1995 1998 2001 2004 2007 2010 2013 2016
† Elected unopposed · ‡ By-election