Vigor Brown: Difference between revisions
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==Early life== |
==Early life== |
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Brown was born in [[London]] in 1854. For his parents, Jessie Gilmour and John Brown, it was their third boy and last child.<ref name="Marriage">{{cite news|title=Marriage |url=http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=HBH18801203.2.8 |accessdate=10 December 2010 |newspaper=Hawke's Bay Herald |date=Volume XXI, Issue 5845, 3 December 1880 |page=2}}</ref> Both parents had Scottish ancestry. His father worked for a bank, and was later a commercial traveller. The family briefly lived in France before emigrating to [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]], [[Australia]]. John Vigor Brown, his brothers and their mother arrived in [[Melbourne]] on 22 January 1862 on the ''Water Nymph''. It is assumed that his father was already there. They made their home in [[South Yarra, Victoria|South Yarra]]. He was educated at [[Melbourne Grammar School|Melbourne Church of England Grammar School]].<ref name="DNZB Brown">{{cite web | url=http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/3b53/1 | title= Brown, John Vigor - Biography | last= Axford | first= C. Joy | date= updated 1 September 2010 |publisher= [[Dictionary of New Zealand Biography]] | accessdate= 8 December 2010}}</ref> |
Brown was born in [[London]] in 1854. For his parents, Jessie Gilmour and John Brown, it was their third boy and last child.<ref name="Marriage">{{cite news|title=Marriage |url=http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=HBH18801203.2.8 |accessdate=10 December 2010 |newspaper=Hawke's Bay Herald |date=Volume XXI, Issue 5845, 3 December 1880 |page=2}}</ref> Both parents had Scottish ancestry. His father worked for a bank, and was later a commercial traveller. The family briefly lived in France before emigrating to [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]], [[Australia]]. John Vigor Brown, his brothers and their mother arrived in [[Melbourne]] on 22 January 1862 on the ''Water Nymph''. It is assumed that his father was already there. They made their home in [[South Yarra, Victoria|South Yarra]]. He was educated at [[Melbourne Grammar School|Melbourne Church of England Grammar School]].<ref name="DNZB Brown">{{cite web | url=http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/3b53/1 | title= Brown, John Vigor - Biography | last= Axford | first= C. Joy | date= updated 1 September 2010 |publisher= [[Dictionary of New Zealand Biography]] | accessdate= 8 December 2010}} And he's so not cool</ref> |
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==Professional career== |
==Professional career== |
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Revision as of 09:37, 21 December 2010
Vigor Brown MP | |
|---|---|
 Vigor Brown in 1910 | |
| Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Napier | |
| In office 1908–1922 | |
| 8th Mayor of Napier | |
| In office 1907–1917 | |
| In office 1919–1921 | |
| In office 1927–1933 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 18 June 1854 London |
| Died | 2 September 1942 (aged 88) Napier |
| Political party | Liberal Reform |
John Vigor Brown (18 June 1854 – 2 September 1942), known as Vigor Brown,[1] was a New Zealand Member of Parliament for Napier, in the North Island. He was Mayor of Napier for a total of 18 years. He was a well-known figure in his adopted city, a successful businessman, and involved in many clubs and organisations.
Early life
Brown was born in London in 1854. For his parents, Jessie Gilmour and John Brown, it was their third boy and last child.[2] Both parents had Scottish ancestry. His father worked for a bank, and was later a commercial traveller. The family briefly lived in France before emigrating to Victoria, Australia. John Vigor Brown, his brothers and their mother arrived in Melbourne on 22 January 1862 on the Water Nymph. It is assumed that his father was already there. They made their home in South Yarra. He was educated at Melbourne Church of England Grammar School.[3]
Professional career
Brown learned the trade of a wholesale merchant (clothing) at the firm Sargood, King and Sargood in Melbourne. He came to Wellington in 1875.[4] For two years, he worked for the Wellington firm of A. P. Stewart and Company as a travelling sales person.[5] His next employment brought him to Napier, where he remained for the rest of his life. He became branch manager for Archibald Clark and Sons, an importing company.[3] He resigned from that position in May 1898[6] and took on the management of Neal and Close, where he was managing director at a later point. He formed his own company, J. Vigor Brown and Co. He was further managing director of White Swan Brewery, and Hawke's Bay Soap and Tannery. He was a director of the Napier Gas Company.[5] He was the local agent for the United and Phoenix Fire Insurance Companies.[6]
Local body politics
He was voted onto the both the Napier Harbour Board and the Napier Borough Council in 1898.[3][6] He was chairman of the Harbour Board from February 1904 until April 1911.[7] He was a member of the Chamber of Commerce.
He was elected Mayor of Napier in April 1907.[1] He was mayor for three periods: 1907–1917, 1919–1921 and 1927–1933.[8] The 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake fell into Brown's last period, and temporary governance arrangement included a Napier Citizens' Control Committee, followed by a two-man Government Commission. J. S. Barton and L. B. Campbell were farewelled by the mayor in May 1933, when their term ended and the municipal affairs once again rested with the borough council.[9][10] The resulting mayoral election was contested by the incumbent and C O Morse, the chairman of the Earthquake Relief Committee.[11] The election caused great interest, and Morse and Brown received 4110 and 1808 votes, respectively. At the time, mayoral elections were held every two years, but the 1931 election had been skipped due to the earthquake.[12][13]
Member of Parliament
| Years | Term | Electorate | Party | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1908–1911 | 17th | Napier | Liberal | ||
| 1911–1914 | 18th | Napier | Liberal | ||
| 1914–1919 | 19th | Napier | Liberal | ||
| 1919–1922 | 20th | Napier | Reform | ||
The Napier electorate had been held since the 1899 election by Alfred Fraser. Fraser stood again in the 1908 election, but although he was with the Liberal Party, Brown also contested the electorate as a Liberal.[14] Brown won the contest with a majority of 1035 votes (3803 votes to 2768).[15][16]
In the 191 election, Brown was challenged by H. T. Hill. Both men were supporters of the current Liberal government. Brown and Hill received 3858 and 2825 votes, respectively.[16][17]
Brown served in the New Zealand House of Representatives for fourteen years from 1908 to 1922. Wilson notes that Brown was an Independent Liberal.[18]
Family
Brown married Caroline Balaclava Cook, daughter of the late John Cook of Auckland, on 27 November 1880 at St John's Church in Napier.[2] They had four daughters and two sons before Caroline died from peritonitis on 6 September 1891 at the young age of 36. He remarried on 19 September 1894 to Violet McConechie Bogle. There were no further children from this second marriage.[3]
In 1910, Brown had a 31' launch built for the family, named Water Nymph after the ship used for his emigration to Victoria during his childhood.[19]
His second wife predeceased him on 23 February 1924. Brown died on 2 September 1942 in Napier, where he had lived since 1877. After his death, his family took on the surname Vigor-Brown.[3]
References
- ^ a b "History". Napier City Council. Retrieved 1 November 2010.
- ^ a b "Marriage". Hawke's Bay Herald. Volume XXI, Issue 5845, 3 December 1880. p. 2. Retrieved 10 December 2010.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ a b c d e Axford, C. Joy (updated 1 September 2010). "Brown, John Vigor - Biography". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Retrieved 8 December 2010.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) And he's so not cool - ^ Hamer, David Allan (1988). The New Zealand Liberals: the Years of Power, 1891-1912. Auckland University Press. p. 361. ISBN 1869400143.
- ^ a b "Obituary". Evening Post. Volume CXXXIV, Issue 56, 3 September 1942. p. II. Retrieved 10 December 2010.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ a b c Cyclopedia Company Limited (1908). "Mr. J. Vigor Brown". The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Taranaki, Hawke’s Bay & Wellington Provincial Districts. Cyclopedia Company Limited. p. 316. Retrieved 10 December 2010.
- ^ "Ladies, Gentlemen and Others". NZ Truth. Issue 334, 18 November 1911. p. 4. Retrieved 11 December 2010.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Previous Mayors". City of Napier. Retrieved 6 November 2010.
- ^ "History of Napier City Council". Napier City Council. Retrieved 1 November 2010.
- ^ "Napier Commissioners". Evening Post. Volume CXV, Issue 111, 13 May 1933. p. 12. Retrieved 8 December 2010.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Contests at Napier". Evening Post. Volume CXV, Issue 93, 21 April 1933. p. 8. Retrieved 8 December 2010.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Results Elsewhere". Evening Post. Volume CXV, Issue 103, 4 May 1933. p. 13. Retrieved 8 December 2010.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Many new members chosen". Evening Post. Volume CXV, Issue 103, 4 May 1933. p. 13. Retrieved 8 December 2010.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Hawkes Bay". Evening Post. Volume LXXVI, Issue 107, 2 November 1908. p. 2. Retrieved 10 December 2010.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Napier Seat". Evening Post. Volume LXXVI, Issue 123, 23 November 1908. p. 7. Retrieved 10 December 2010.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ a b "Hawke's Bay Province". Otautau Standard and Wallace County Chronicle. Volume VII, Issue 344, 12 December 1911. p. 1. Retrieved 11 December 2010.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Election Campaign". Evening Post. Volume LXXXII, Issue 123, 21 November 1911. p. 3. Retrieved 11 December 2010.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand parliamentary record, 1840-1984 (4 ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. p. 186. OCLC 154283103.
{{cite book}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help) - ^ "Parade of Classic & Wooden Boats Lake Rotoiti North Island, New Zealand". Lake Rotoiti Classic and Wooden Boat Association. Retrieved 10 December 2010.