Ernst Peterson Hay (7 July 1886 – 31 December 1955) was a New Zealand lawyer, judge and local politician. He was the

mayor of Lower Hutt The city of Lower Hutt, New Zealand, was first proclaimed a borough on 1 February 1891. Prior to this it had been part of Hutt County, initially as a Roads Board and from 1881 as a Town Board. Since 2019, the mayor has been Campbell Barry. Hist ...

from 1947 to 1949.

Biography

Hay was born in

Lawrence Lawrence may refer to: Education Colleges and universities * Lawrence Technological University, a university in Southfield, Michigan, United States * Lawrence University, a liberal arts university in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States Preparator ...

in 1886 to William Hay. He was educated at Lawrence District High School and later became an assistant solicitor at the

Public Trust The concept of public trust relates back to the origins of democratic government and its seminal idea that within the public lies the true power and future of a society; therefore, whatever ''trust'' citizens place in its officials must be respe ...

Office in 1910. He was later a lawyer at the

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

firm of Mazengarb, Hay and Macalister (founded 1918) with

Ossie Mazengarb Oswald Chettle Mazengarb (31 May 1890 – 27 November 1963), known as Ossie Mazengarb, was a New Zealand barrister. Biography Mazengarb was born in Prahran, a suburb of Melbourne, in 1890. His family moved to Dunedin soon after his birth and ...

and

Robert Macalister Sir Robert Lachlan Macalister (2 December 1890 – 23 May 1967) was the Mayor of Wellington from 1950 to 1956, and had been the acting mayor for five months in 1948 during the absence overseas of Will Appleton. Biography Early life and career M ...

. He was also the President of the Wellington

Rotary Club Rotary International is one of the largest Service club, service organizations in the world. The self-declared mission of Rotary, as stated on its website, is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, go ...

in 1939. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Hay acted as chairman of the Armed Forces Appeal Board at Wellington. He was married to Agnes Mitchell with whom he had two sons and three daughters. His brother was

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

businessman and city councillor Sir

James Hay James Hay may refer to: * James Hay (bishop) (died 1538), Scottish abbot and bishop * James Hay, 7th Lord Hay of Yester (1564–1609), Scottish landowner and courtier * James Hay, 1st Earl of Carlisle (c.1580–1636), British noble * James Hay, 2nd ...

. Hay was a member of the

Lower Hutt Lower Hutt () is a list of cities in New Zealand, city in the Wellington Region of New Zealand. Administered by the Hutt City Council, it is one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington#Wellington metropolitan area, Wellington metropoli ...

Borough Council from 1938 to 1947. In June 1947 the mayor,

Jack Andrews Sir John Lawson Ormrod Andrews (15 July 1903 – 12 January 1986) was a member of both the Northern Ireland House of Commons and the Senate of Northern Ireland. Son of Prime Minister J. M. Andrews, he was educated at Moure Grange Preparato ...

, resigned and the councillors elected Hay as mayor for the remainder of the term until the scheduled election in November. He was re-elected mayor at the November 1947 election. In 1948 he was appointed as a Judge of the

Supreme Court of New Zealand The Supreme Court of New Zealand () is the highest court and the court of last resort of New Zealand. It formally came into being on 1 January 2004 and sat for the first time on 1 July 2004. It replaced the right of appeal to the Judicial Co ...

. After joining the judiciary he resigned as mayor on 20 January 1949. Hay retired in February 1955, owing to illness, and died on 31 December that year. He was cremated, and had his ashes interred at the

Karori Cemetery Karori Cemetery is the second-largest cemetery in New Zealand. It opened in 1891, and is located in the Wellington suburb of Karori. History Karori Cemetery opened in 1891 to address overcrowding at Bolton Street Cemetery. In 1909, it recei ...

crematorium. His wife Agnes, who was a benefactor and volunteer for the Red Cross and Women's Guild, died in 1959.

Notes

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hay, Ernst Peterson 1886 births 1955 deaths People from Lawrence, New Zealand 20th-century New Zealand lawyers 20th-century New Zealand politicians Hutt City Councillors Mayors of Lower Hutt 20th-century New Zealand judges High Court of New Zealand judges Burials at Karori Cemetery