Barry Mitchell Dallas (1 December 1926 – 21 April 1992) was a New Zealand politician and doctor. He was twice

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, 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 responsibilitie ...

Greymouth Greymouth () (Māori language, Māori: ''Māwhera'') is the largest town in the West Coast, New Zealand, West Coast List of regions in New Zealand, region in the South Island of New Zealand, and the seat of the Grey District Council. The populat ...

on the West Coast of New Zealand.

Biography

Dallas was born in Masterton and attended

Wairarapa College Wairarapa College is a state coeducational secondary school located in Masterton, New Zealand. The college first opened in 1938, following the merger of Wairarapa High School with the Masterton Technical School. Serving Years 9 to 13, the colleg ...

. He qualified as a doctor at the Otago School of Medicine (1950; MB, ChB) and at the Auckland School of Medicine (1960, DipObs). He was a house surgeon at New Plymouth, and then at Greymouth where he became both surgeon and a general practitioner. He was on the West Coast Hospital Board from 1970, then the Area Health Board. He was Mayor of Greymouth from 1966 to 1968, and later from 1980 until his unexpected death after a long illness in 1992. Greymouth was regularly flooded by the Grey River. Since the 1860s, the town had been under water almost two dozen times. When the town was flooded twice in 1988, Dallas embarked on an ambitious project to build a flood protection wall. Since its completion, flooding has not occurred again. Dallas was appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

, for services to local government and the community, in the

1990 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1990 were appointments by most of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other countrie ...

, and was also awarded the

New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal The New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal was a commemorative medal awarded in New Zealand in 1990 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, and was awarded to 3,632 people. Background The New Zealand 1990 Com ...

. Dallas stood as an independent candidate for the Westland electorate in

1969 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...

; and in

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

and

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

for the replacement West Coast electorate. He finished second behind the incumbent

Paddy Blanchfield Patrick Blanchfield (18 December 1911 – 20 June 1980) was a Labour Party member of the New Zealand Parliament for Westland and the West Coast. Biography Early life and career Blanchfield was born in 1911 in Greymouth where his father, Patr ...

in all three elections; standing as an independent candidate in 1972, and as the

National National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

candidate in 1975. In 1969 he trailed Blanchfield by only 1879 votes. In 1972 the majority for Blanchfield was 4242, and in 1975 it was 2401.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dallas, Barry 1926 births 1992 deaths Mayors of Grey New Zealand general practitioners New Zealand Officers of the Order of the British Empire New Zealand National Party politicians Independent politicians in New Zealand People from Masterton Unsuccessful candidates in the 1975 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1972 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1969 New Zealand general election New Zealand medical administrators University of Otago alumni University of Auckland alumni People from Greymouth People educated at Wairarapa College New Zealand justices of the peace