William Fitzherbert (mayor)
New Zealand mayor
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
William Alfred Fitzherbert (21 January 1842 – 2 February 1906) was the first mayor of Lower Hutt, New Zealand, from when Lower Hutt became a borough in 1891 to 1898. He was an engineer and farmer in New Zealand.
21 January 1842
William Fitzherbert | |
|---|---|
| |
| 1st mayor of Lower Hutt | |
| In office 1 February 1891 – 18 November 1898 | |
| Succeeded by | Walter George Foster |
| Personal details | |
| Born | William Alfred Fitzherbert 21 January 1842 London, England |
| Died | 2 February 1906 (aged 64) Lower Hutt, New Zealand |
| Spouse |
Fanny Waterhouse (m. 1875) |
| Relations | William Fitzherbert (father) George Waterhouse (father-in-law) |
| Children | 9 |
| Profession | Engineer |
Biography
William Fitzherbert was born in London in 1842, a son of William Fitzherbert.[1][2] The family followed his father to Wellington about 1846.[3] Fitzherbert was educated in Wellington, at Sydney Grammar School, and at Canterbury University College. He was an engineer with the Wellington Provincial Council and with the Hutt County Council.[1] He farmed in the Wanganui district, and then in the Hutt Valley and in Hawke's Bay.[3]
On 17 November 1875,[4] he married Fanny, the adopted daughter of George Waterhouse. They had five daughters and four sons.[1]
In 1904 he built Norbury,[5] now Minoh Friendship House, to house his daughter Alice and her husband George William von Zedlitz, Victoria University's first professor of modern languages.[6] Alice married Professor von Zedlitz in 1905, and Alicetown in Lower Hutt was named after her.[7]
Fitzherbert died suddenly in Lower Hutt on 2 February 1906 of heart failure.[3][8]
In 2011, plaques were installed on 13 boulders at the Hutt Recreation Ground commemorating the first 13 mayors.[9]
