Richard Henry Leary (3 November 1840 – 14 May 1895) was

Mayor of Dunedin The mayor of Dunedin is the head of the local government, the city council of Dunedin, New Zealand. The mayor's role is "to provide leadership to the other elected members of the territorial authority, be a leader in the community and perform c ...

from 1877 to 1878, and again from 1886 to 1887.

Biography

Born in

Southall Southall () is a large suburban town in West London, England, part of the London Borough of Ealing and is one of its seven major towns. It is situated west of Charing Cross and had a population of 69,857 as of 2011. It is generally divided ...

, London on 3 November 1840, Leary emigrated in 1854 to

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

, where he worked in the timber trade and in the goldfields. In 1861, he left for

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

, and spent time in the diggings at Gabriel's Gully, before returning to Dunedin where he became a partner in an auctioneering and accountancy firm, Leary and Grant. He went on to found his own accountancy firm. In 1862, Leary married Carolina Georgina Pope of

Ballarat, Victoria Ballarat ( ) () is a city in the Central Highlands (Victoria), Central Highlands of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 Australian census, 2021 census, Ballarat had a population of 111,973, making it the third-largest urban inland city in Australi ...

. During his time as

, Leary investigated the bookkeeping of the gas department, which led to the sacking of the manager, although he was later reinstated. In protest, Leary resigned, but easily won reelection. In 1894 Leary traveled to London to sort of Dunedin loan's, but while there caught pneumonia and died, on 14 May 1895, leaving a widow and one son.

References

Mayors of Dunedin 1895 deaths 1840 births People from Southall {{NewZealand-mayor-stub