Russell John Calvert (1 February 1909 – 20 August 2011) was a New Zealand local-body politician. He served as
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 ...
between 1965 and 1968.
Biography
Early life
Calvert was born in Masterton
in 1909. He was educated at
Nelson College
Nelson College is the oldest state secondary school in New Zealand. It is an all-boys school in Nelson, New Zealand, the City of Nelson that teaches from years 9 to 13. In addition, it runs a private preparatory school for year 7 and 8 boys. ...
in 1923 and in Wellington.
[''Nelson College Old Boys' Register, 1856–2006'', 6th edition] Calvert had wanted to join the
Merchant Navy, but was unable to fund the ₤50 necessary for officers training as a captain, so instead he started work with his uncle as a dental technician in Wellington. He then moved to
Dunedin
Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...
and established his own dental technician's laboratory there, living in Dunedin for 52 years. He served in
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
in the army in an artillery unit in
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wit ...
and the
Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...
, and for a short time in
New Caledonia.
Political career
In Dunedin he became involved in local-body affairs in the late-1940s as a member of the
Kew
Kew () is a district in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its population at the 2011 census was 11,436. Kew is the location of the Royal Botanic Gardens ("Kew Gardens"), now a World Heritage Site, which includes Kew Palace. Kew is a ...
Ratepayers and Householders Association. He was later an organiser of the Dunedin Combined Ratepayers' Association and was part of a successful campaign in 1953 for unimproved value rating.
He later sought the Labour nomination at the
1953 North Dunedin by-election
The 1953 North Dunedin by-election was a by-election held during the 30th New Zealand Parliament in the Dunedin electorate of North Dunedin. The by-election occurred following the death of MP Robert Walls and was won by Ethel McMillan.
Backgr ...
but was not selected. He was first elected to the
Dunedin City Council
The Dunedin City Council ( mi, Kaunihera ā-Rohe o Ōtepoti) is the local government authority for Dunedin in New Zealand. It is a territorial authority elected to represent the people of Dunedin. Since October 2022, the Mayor of Dunedin is Ju ...
in a 1958 by-election, beating former National MP
Jim Barnes
James Martin Barnes (April 8, 1886 – May 24, 1966) was an English golfer and a leading figure in the early years of professional golf in the United States. He is one of three native Britons (with Tommy Armour and Rory McIlroy) to win three di ...
, to replace
Fred Jones who had been appointed New Zealand's
High Commissioner to Australia. At the regularly scheduled election in 1959 he was initially successful in securing re-election, as the lowest polling successful candidate, just 11 votes ahead of the next candidate Edgar Whittleston. After the official count was finished, which included an extra 1,570 special votes, it changed the result slightly with Whittleston displacing Calvert as the lowest polling successful candidate by 93 votes.
He returned to the council in another by-election in July 1961 and then stood unsuccessfully for mayor in
1962
Events January
* January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand.
* January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism.
* January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wo ...
. His mayoral candidature was last minute, with
Phil Connolly
Philip George Connolly (14 November 1899 – 13 February 1970) was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party.
Early life
Connoly was born in Dunedin on 14 November 1899 to Hugh Babbington Connolly and Evelyn Emily Connolly (née Smith). He ...
the MP for
Dunedin Central
Dunedin Central was a parliamentary electorate in the city of Dunedin in Otago, New Zealand from 1881 to 1890 and 1905 to 1984.
Population centres
The previous electoral redistribution was undertaken in 1875 for the 1875–1876 election. In the ...
initially set to be Labour's mayoral candidate. However when Connolly was forced to withdraw on grounds of ill-health Clavert replaced him, narrowly losing to the incumbent Mayor
Stuart Sidey
Thomas Kay Stuart Sidey (8 October 1908 – 28 October 2007) was a former New Zealand politician who served as Mayor of Dunedin.
Biography Early life and career
Born in 1908, he was brought up in Corstorphine House. He was the only child of S ...
. He stood for the city council as well as the mayoralty and was comfortably re-elected to the council (polling second highest). Three years later he stood for the mayoralty again, this time beating Sidey. He served for one term as mayor from 1965 to 1968 when he was defeated by Jim Barnes. He was then re-elected to the council mid-term in a 1970 by-election before standing for mayor unsuccessfully one last time in 1971.
He was the chairman of many committees and on a number of executive boards during his career, including being chairman of the Clutha Valley Development Commission, looking at hydro-electric power development in the area.
He also was on the Town and Country Planning Appeal Board for four terms.
Later life and death
His first wife, Eileen, died in 1977 and Calvert then lived for three years in
Arrowtown
Arrowtown (Māori language, Māori: ''Haehaenui'') is a historic gold mining town in the Otago region of the South Island of New Zealand. Arrowtown is located on the banks of the Arrow River (New Zealand), Arrow River approximately 7.5 km ...
at the family holiday home where he worked at the local golf club as unofficial and unpaid assistant greenkeeper. Together with his second wife, Win, he moved to first
Christchurch
Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...
and then
Nelson
Nelson may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey
* ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers
* ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...
to be nearer to her family.
In later life he was a leading campaigner for higher pensions for those with spouses in care. After presenting a petition to parliament in 2005, signed by 1,519 people, Senior Citizens Minister
Ruth Dyson
Ruth Suzanne Dyson (born 11 August 1957) is a former New Zealand politician. She was a Labour Party Member of Parliament from 1993 to 2020. She represented the electorate from the election to 2020. She also held a number of senior offices i ...
announced all married pensioners who had a partner in long-term residential care would from July 2006 be eligible for the higher single rate of superannuation.
He died in 2011 aged 102.
Notes
References
*
1909 births
2011 deaths
People from Masterton
People educated at Nelson College
New Zealand dentists
New Zealand military personnel of World War II
New Zealand justices of the peace
New Zealand Labour Party politicians
Dunedin City Councillors
Mayors of Dunedin
New Zealand centenarians
Men centenarians
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