Edward Gordon (politician)

Edward Brice Killen Gordon (4 November 1885 – 6 September 1964) was a New Zealand politician of the National Party.

Biography

New Zealand Parliament
Years Term Electorate Party
1938–1943 26th Rangitikei National
1943–1946 27th Rangitikei National
1946–1949 28th Rangitikei National
1949–1951 29th Rangitikei National
1951–1954 30th Rangitikei National

Gordon was born in Marton in 1885. He received his education at Marton District High School and at Prince Albert College in Auckland's Queen Street. He worked on a farm near Taihape, and then in the bush north of Wanganui.[1]

In 1917, he married Mary Alexandra Grant before enlisting for World War I; at the time, they were living in Palmerston North.[2] After the war, he purchased a farm near Mangaweka, but moved back to Marton to take over a farm there. He was involved with various farming organisations and chaired the Marton branch of the Farmers' Union, was vice-president of the Marton A&P Association, and a member of the Rangitikei Rabbit Board.[1]

With the formation of the National Party in 1936, he became the electorate chairman for Rangitikei.[1] In the 1938 election, Gordon stood against the incumbent in the Rangitikei electorate, Labour's Ormond Wilson. Boundary changes had resulted in the loss of the urban part of Wanganui from the electorate, which was now fully rural.[3] Although Labour obtained a landslide victory in the election, Wilson lost against Gordon of the National Party by 300 votes.[4] In 1953, Gordon was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal.[5]

Gordon held the Rangitikei electorate to 1954, when he retired.[6] He died in 1964.[1]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d Gustafson 1986, p. 315.
  2. ^ "Edward Brice Killen Gordon". Auckland War Memorial Museum. Retrieved 8 July 2022 – via Online Cenotaph.
  3. ^ Paul, Janet. "Wilson, George Hamish Ormond – Biography". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 30 November 2012.
  4. ^ Hancock, Mervyn (December 2005). "George Hamish Ormond Wilson : Member of Parliament for Rangitikei 1935–1938 Palmerston North 1946–1949" (PDF). Palmerston North Library. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 March 2012. Retrieved 1 December 2012.
  5. ^ Taylor, Alister; Coddington, Deborah (1994). Honoured by the Queen – New Zealand. Auckland: New Zealand Who's Who Aotearoa. p. 413. ISBN 0-908578-34-2.
  6. ^ Wilson 1985, p. 200.

References

  • Gustafson, Barry (1986). The First 50 Years : A History of the New Zealand National Party. Auckland: Reed Methuen. ISBN 0-474-00177-6.
  • Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.
New Zealand Parliament
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Rangitikei
1938–1954 		Succeeded by


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