William Fitzherbert (mayor)

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William Fitzherbert
1st Mayor of Lower Hutt
In office
1 February 1891 – 18 November 1898
Succeeded byWalter George Foster
Personal details
Born
William Alfred Fitzherbert

1842
London, England
Died2 February 1906
Lower Hutt, New Zealand
Spouse
Fanny Waterhouse
(m. 1875)
RelationsWilliam Fitzherbert (father)
George Waterhouse (father-in-law)
Children9
ProfessionEngineer

William Alfred Fitzherbert (1842 – 2 February 1906) was the first Mayor of Lower Hutt, New Zealand, from when Lower Hutt became a borough in 1891 to 1898. He was an engineer and farmer in New Zealand.

Biography[edit]

William Fitzherbert was born in London in 1842, a son of William Fitzherbert.[1][2] The family followed his father to Wellington about 1846.[3] Fitzherbert was educated in Wellington, at Sydney Grammar School, and at Canterbury University College. He was an engineer with the Wellington Provincial Council and with the Hutt County Council.[1] He farmed in the Wanganui district, and then in the Hutt Valley and in Hawke's Bay.[3]

On 17 November 1875,[4] he married Fanny, the adopted daughter of George Waterhouse. They had five daughters and four sons.[1]

In 1904 he built Norbury,[5] now Minoh Friendship House, to house his daughter Alice and her husband George William von Zedlitz, Victoria University's first professor of modern languages.[6] Alice married Professor von Zedlitz in 1905, and Alicetown in Lower Hutt was named after her.[7]

Fitzherbert died suddenly in Lower Hutt on 2 February 1906 of heart failure.[3][8]

In 2011, plaques were installed on 13 boulders at the Hutt Recreation Ground commemorating the first 13 mayors.[9]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c Cyclopedia Company Limited (1897). "His Worship the Mayor, Mr. William Alfred Fitzherbert". The Cyclopedia of New Zealand : Wellington Provincial District. Wellington: The Cyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
  2. ^ Hamer, David. "Fitzherbert, William". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
  3. ^ a b c Platts, Una (1980). "William Fitzherbert, artist". Nineteenth Century New Zealand Artists: A Guide & Handbook. Christchurch: Avon Fine Prints. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
  4. ^ "Fitzherbert-Waterhouse Marriage". The New Zealand Times. 18 November 1875.
  5. ^ "Families flock to handy Normandale". The Dominion Post. 10 May 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  6. ^ "About: Venue". Hutt Minoh Friendship House Trust. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  7. ^ Kaye, George (1987). Bygone Days in Lower Hutt. Lower Hutt: Lower Hutt City Council. pp. 116, 117. ISBN 0-473-00523-9.
  8. ^ "Death of an old Hutt Resident". The Marlborough Express. Vol. XXXIX, no. 29. 3 February 1906. p. 2. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
  9. ^ "Boulders mark King George VI coronation". Hutt City Council. 14 November 2011. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
Political offices
New title Mayor of Lower Hutt
1891–1898
Succeeded by