Bob Fenton
{{Short description|New Zealand politician}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
{{Use New Zealand English|date=August 2014}}
William Robert Fenton (9 October 1923 – 10 January 2013), known as Bob Fenton, was a New Zealand politician of the National Party.
Biography
{{NZ parlbox header|nolist=true|align=right}}
{{NZ parlbox
|start = {{NZ election link year|1975}}
|end = 1978
|term = 38th
|electorate = {{NZ electorate link|Hastings}}
|party = New Zealand National Party
}}
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Fenton was born on 9 October 1923 at Napier, and was educated at Hastings High School. He served in World War II in the New Zealand Army and in the Royal New Zealand Air Force.{{sfn|Gustafson|1986|p=310}} In 1951, he married Dorothy Alice Ferrier, and the couple went on to have five children.
Fenton was a regional governor of the New Zealand chapter of Jaycees in 1960, and a world governor of Junior Chamber International.{{sfn|Gustafson|1986|p=310}} Fenton was strongly opposed to political interference in sport and held strong views on the rugby matches between South Africa and New Zealand.{{sfn|Gustafson|1986|p=310}}
In the {{NZ election link|1975}}, Fenton stood for National in the {{NZ electorate link|Hastings}} electorate and defeated the incumbent, Labour's Richard Mayson.{{sfn|Wilson|1985|pp=195, 219}} In the {{NZ election link|1978}}, he was in turn defeated by Labour's David Butcher.{{sfn|Wilson|1985|pp=187, 195}} Between 1979 and 1987, Fenton served as deputy chair of the Earthquake and War Damage Commission.
In 1977, Fenton was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal, and in 1990 he received the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal.{{cite book |last1=Taylor |first1=Alister |last2=Coddington |first2=Deborah |author-link1=Alister Taylor |author-link2=Deborah Coddington |title=Honoured by the Queen – New Zealand |year=1994 |publisher=New Zealand Who's Who Aotearoa |location=Auckland |isbn=0-908578-34-2 |page=139}}
Fenton owned his own real estate company, Robert Fenton Real Estate, and was a fellow of the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand.{{sfn|Gustafson|1986|p=310}} He died in 2013.{{cite news | url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/hawkes-bay-today/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503462&objectid=11087313 | title=Obituary: Debating led to Parliament for Fenton | date=14 January 2013 | work=Hawke's Bay Today | access-date=24 June 2019}}
Notes
{{Reflist}}
References
- {{cite book |last = Gustafson |first = Barry |author-link = Barry Gustafson |title = The First 50 Years : A History of the New Zealand National Party |year = 1986 |publisher = Reed Methuen |location = Auckland |isbn = 0-474-00177-6 }}
- {{cite book |last= Wilson |first= James Oakley |title= New Zealand parliamentary record, 1840–1984 |edition= 4 |orig-year= First ed. published 1913 |year= 1985 |publisher= V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer |location= Wellington |oclc= 154283103}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-par|nz}}
{{s-bef | before = Richard Mayson}}
{{s-ttl | title=Member of Parliament for Hastings | years=1975–1978}}
{{s-aft | after = David Butcher}}
{{end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fenton, Bob}}
Category:New Zealand National Party MPs
Category:People educated at Hastings Boys' High School
Category:New Zealand military personnel of World War II
Category:Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives
Category:New Zealand MPs for North Island electorates
Category:Unsuccessful candidates in the 1978 New Zealand general election
{{NZNational-politician-stub}}