Sir William Appleton (3 September 1889 – 22 October 1958) was a New Zealand local body politician, advertising agent and leading company director. He was

Mayor of Wellington The mayor of Wellington is the head of the municipal government of Wellington, the city of Wellington. The mayor presides over the Wellington City Council. The mayor is directly elected using the Single Transferable Vote method of proportional ...

for two terms from 1944 to 1950 after serving as a city councillor from 1931 to 1944. He was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 ...

Biography

Early life and career

Appleton was born in

Alexandra Alexandra () is a female given name of Greek origin. It is the first attested form of its variants, including Alexander (, ). Etymology, Etymologically, the name is a compound of the Greek verb (; meaning 'to defend') and (; genitive, GEN , ; ...

Central Otago Central Otago is an area located in the inland part of the Otago region in the South Island of New Zealand. The motto for the area is "A World of Difference". The area is dominated by mountain ranges and the upper reaches of the Clutha River ...

in 1889, the eldest of nine children. His parents were Yorkshireman Edwin Appleton and his Scottish wife, Margaret Bruce. The Appleton family briefly moved to Gisborne in 1904 but was back in Alexandra in the following year. Appleton, left by the postmaster in charge of the local post office as a teenager, did some bookkeeping for local businesses. In October 1906, aged 17, he was appointed a cadet in the accountancy department of the General Post Office at

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 ...

. In 1909 he passed his accountancy exams. He left the Post and Telegraph Department, then still a centre of modern communications technology, and in April 1910 joined advertising agent Charles Haines and Co. Haines had founded his business, the country's first

advertising agency An advertising agency, often referred to as a creative agency or an ad agency, is a business dedicated to creating, planning, and handling advertising and sometimes other forms of promotion and marketing for its clients. An ad agency is generall ...

, in Wellington in 1891. Appleton married Mary Helen (Nell) Munro in March 1913. They were to have a daughter and two sons. By the time of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

25-year-old Will Appleton was manager of Charles Haines. He was appointed managing director in 1918. Nell died in 1918's influenza epidemic. The following year he married Rose Hellewell and they had a daughter and two sons. Then in 1932 he sold his interest in Charles Haines to his former partners, accepted directorships in many major listed companies and devoted himself to politics.

Political career

Local politics

After moving to Wellington, Appleton was elected to the Onslow Borough Council in 1915 where he led a successful campaign for amalgamation with Wellington in order to gain an integrated water and drainage system. In 1923 he was elected to the Wellington Hospital Board on a

Civic League The Wellington Citizens' Association, was a right-leaning local body electoral ticket in Wellington, New Zealand. It was formed in 1911 by merging the selection process of council candidates of several civic interest groups and business lobby gr ...

ticket and remained a member until 1929. In

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

Appleton was elected to the

Wellington City Council Wellington City Council is a Territorial authorities of New Zealand, territorial authority in New Zealand, governing the city of Wellington, the country's capital city and List of cities in New Zealand#City councils, third-largest city by popul ...

where he became an effective and popular councillor renowned as being friendly, approachable and possessing a "chuckling" sense of humour. He became chair of the Works Committee and oversaw the introduction of a system of refuse disposal to converted gullies into sports grounds including Appleton Park, which was named after him (formerly it was known as Chaytor Street tip). He was an advocate of

moral re-armament Moral Re-Armament (MRA) was an international moral and spiritual movement that, in 1938, developed from American minister Frank Buchman's Oxford Group. Buchman headed MRA for 23 years until his death in 1961. In 2001, the movement was renamed I ...

and helped prepare the city for wartime contingencies. The council spent money on drawing up plans on how to evacuate the city's wartime population of 123,000, digging underground shelters and constructing concrete bunkers. In

1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free France, Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command First Army (France), French Army B, part of the Sixt ...

Appleton challenged Thomas Hislop for the Citizens' nomination to stand for mayor. Appleton claimed he would stand as an independent should he not be granted the candidacy. Declining arbitration, Appleton got his wish when Hislop (albeit reluctantly) agreed to stand aside in the interests of unity. Appleton was elected with a huge majority and was later re-elected for a second term in

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country i ...

by a lower margin before retiring in 1950. In a

1955 by-election Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijiang ...

Appleton was invited by the Citizens' Association to stand once again for the City Council, though he declined to re-enter local politics. He did remain involved however and was invited as a speaker to a Citizens' Association meeting in 1957 held to discuss their loss of the mayoralty at the

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan after 57 years. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, E ...

election, following a split between two candidates. The meeting resolved for a more open and democratic selection method for the mayoral candidate. Appleton served for 21 years as a member of the

Wellington Harbour Board Wellington Harbour Board was the body which formerly managed the shipping and commercial affairs of the port of Wellington in New Zealand. It was constituted in 1880 and was disestablished in 1989. During its 110-year tenure the Harbour Board ...

, representing Wellington City, and was its chairman from 1954 to 1957.

National politics

He unsuccessfully stood for Parliament several times. In the , he contested the electorate for the United Party and was beaten by

Robert McKeen Robert McKeen (12 July 1884 – 5 August 1974) was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party. He was Speaker of the House of Representatives. Early life He was born in 1884 in Edinburgh and received his education in West Calder, West Loth ...

. In the , he contested the electorate as an independent candidate and came third. In the standing for the

National Party National Party or Nationalist Party may refer to: Active parties * National Party of Australia, commonly known as ''The Nationals'' * Bangladesh: ** Bangladesh Nationalist Party ** Jatiya Party (Ershad) a.k.a. ''National Party (Ershad)'' * Californ ...

in the electorate, he came second but was beaten by Labour's

Peter Fraser Peter Fraser (; 28 August 1884 – 12 December 1950) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 24th prime minister of New Zealand from 27 March 1940 until 13 December 1949. Considered a major figure in the history of the New Zealand Lab ...

. He was to stand against Fraser again in the cancelled 1941 general election. In the , Appleton was again unsuccessful but came second and greatly reduced Fraser's majority. He did not contest the , but stood for a third time in Wellington Central in against Fraser's successor Charles Chapman, but was again defeated.

Later life and death

Appleton was president of the Wellington Rugby Football League from 1940 to 1958 and presented the Appleton Shield, which is used to this day as the premier club trophy. In the 1950 King's Birthday Honours, Appleton was appointed a

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised Order of chivalry, orders of chivalry; it is a part of the Orders, decorations, and medals ...

, in recognition of his service as mayor of Wellington. In 1953 he was made a Knight of Grace of the Order of St John, and was awarded the

Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal The Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal () is a commemorative medal instituted to celebrate the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II on 2 June 1953. Award This medal was awarded as a personal souvenir from the Queen to members of the Royal Family ...

. Rose Appleton was appointed a

Member 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 ...

in the 1946 New Zealand Honours, and a

Commander of the Order of St John The Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem (), commonly known as the Order of St John, and also known as St John International, is an order of chivalry constituted in 1888 by royal charter from Queen Victoria and dedica ...

in 1958. Appleton died of cancer in Bowen Hospital, Wellington, on 22 October 1958. Lady Appleton died in 1980. His son, Lloyd James Appleton (1923–1985), was a newspaper editor and was elected mayor of

Dannevirke Dannevirke ( "Earthworks (archaeology), work of the Danes", a reference to Danevirke; or ''Tāmaki-nui-a-Rua'', the area where the town is) is a rural service town in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of the North Island, New Zealand. It is the ...

in 1965. In the

1971 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1971 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced in supplements to the ''Lon ...

, he was appointed a

, for services to local government and journalism.

Notes

References

* * *

External links

Images of Sir William Appleton
at the

National Library of New Zealand The National Library of New Zealand () is charged with the obligation to "enrich the cultural and economic life of New Zealand and its interchanges with other nations" (National Library of New Zealand (Te Puna Mātauranga) Act 2003). Under the ...

, many in the

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photo of Sir William Appleton (left) in 1950
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Appleton, William 1889 births 1958 deaths 20th-century New Zealand businesspeople Businesspeople awarded knighthoods Knights of Grace of the Order of St John Mayors of Wellington New Zealand Knights Bachelor New Zealand Liberal Party politicians New Zealand National Party politicians New Zealand rugby league administrators Rugby football people awarded knighthoods Unsuccessful candidates in the 1931 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1935 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1938 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1943 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1949 New Zealand general election Wellington City Councillors Wellington Harbour Board members Wellington Hospital Board members