George Hunter was in Mayor of Wellington 1840?
12 Note also a Helen HUNTER on same vessell as part of family
George was first mayor of Wellington from August 1842. Council disbanded after about a year.
George was a partner in the firm Bethune and Hunter.
subscriber to a fete may 1840 Wellington PP 23 may 1840
Hunter was born and educated in Banffshire, Scotland. After working as a businessman in Glasgow, he emigrated to New Zealand in 1840 aboard the Duke of Roxburgh. With his wife, four sons, and six daughters, he landed in Petone at the new settlement of Britannia.
Like many well-to-do settlers, Hunter could afford to travel with plenty of luggage. Among the personal possessions he brought was his piano - probably the first to ever arrive on New Zealand shores. Indeed George Hunter's life was to become a series of firsts.
He made his home in Wellington. Soon after his arrival, he asked a builder by the name of Samuel Parnell to erect a store for him on Lambton Quay. Parnell agreed, on condition that he work no more than eight hours a day. At a time when workers were routinely expected to put in a ten hour day, this was a revolutionary idea. Hunter was flabbergasted, but since builders were scarce, he had no choice but to agree. In so doing, he was probably the first New Zealand employer to grant an employee an eight-hour day. The incident would become legendary. Parnell would go on to become active in labour reform, and would be known to later generations as the father of the eight-hours movement.
The store built, Hunter, set himself up as Wellington's storekeeper-general, in partnership with Kenneth Bethune. Hunter was soon one of the settlement's most prominent citizens, and when Wellington's borough council was formed, he became the city's first mayor. As such, he seems to have been popular and hardworking.
His life came to an untimely end in July 1843, when he caught a chill and died. It is notable that the Maori chief Te Puni sent a generous gift of produce to Hunter's bereaved family, and appeared with all his tribe to mourn at the funeral. Clearly, while there was some conflict between Maori and Pakeha in the area, there was still a great deal of goodwill.
This George Hunter turned out to be the first in a line of George Hunters to achieve political and commercial success in the colony. His eldest son, George Hunter, took over the store and also bought a lot of real estate in Wellington and Hawkes Bay. From 1870 to 1879, he represented Wellington City in Parliament. And the first George Hunter's grandson, Sir George Hunter, was member for Waipawa, first from 1896-99, and then from 1911 until he died in 1930.
BOLCEM
nscription on Tombstone
In affectionate memory: George HUNTER. Helen HUNTER. Barbara HUNTER. Margaret Frances HUNTER. Mary Florence HUNTER. Margaret HUNTER. George HUNTER. Isabella May HUNTER. 1841--1880.
Description of Grave
The grave is grassed over. The memorial on a sloping desk is a white marble plaque with lead lettering (in poor condition).
George Hunter arrived in Wellington on the "Duke of Roxburgh" in 1840, with his wife Helen and their family of 10 children. One of the original purchasers of a one-acre block in the city (in Dixon Street), George was very much involved in business and politics. He was appointed a Justice of the Peace, a Magistrate in 1842, and then elected as Wellington's first mayor in October 1842. He died unexpectedly, aged 55, while still in office. He immigrated to from LON to Wellington on the Duke of Roxburgh arriving 8 feb 1840 on 10 May 1839 DNZB p 333.
12,16 He was in storekeeper - general in 1840.
12,17 He was a magistrate on 7 July 1841.
18 He was a merchant in 1842.
7 He was a merchant Wellington in 1843.
11