William Gregory (mayor)

William Cooper Gregory (1896 – 23 October 1970) was the Mayor of Lower Hutt, New Zealand from 1949 to 1950.

He was born in County Wicklow, Ireland and served three years in France during World War I. After the war he emigrated to New Zealand, moving to Lower Hutt in 1930. He married Anne Dunlop in 1941. He was in the real estate business, and was still doing valuations when he died aged 75y in 1970.

He was a Lower Hutt City Councillor from April 1938 to March 1949, and then mayor of Lower Hutt from March 1949 to November 1950, when he was defeated by Percy Dowse.

In 1951 he was one of the objectors to the proposal of the new Labour council to relieve High Street congestion by putting a new road through Riddiford Park, linking Barraud Street (then a cul-de-sac) to Kings Crescent. The alternative was a road alongside the stopbank which the City Engineer said was too expensive and of dubious value. The Barraud Street extension (now Queen's Drive) required moving forty houses from north of Laings Road, and according to Gregory: "Riddiford Park was one of the most beautiful spots in New Zealand, and its whole character would change if a road was put through it" Five councillors voted against the road, but it went through after an empowering act was passed by Parliament.^[1]

External links

• William Gregory in 1950 (photo)
• William Gregory and other mayoral candidates in 1950 (photos; caption incorrect?)

References

• Who’s Who in New Zealand, 6th edition 1956, edited by Frank A Simpson p107 (1956, Reed, Wellington)
• "Former Hutt Mayor dies last night", Evening Post of 22 October 1970.
• Millar, David P (1972). Once Upon a Village: A History of Lower Hutt 1819-1965. New Zealand University Press & LHCC.