Roderick Braithwaite
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2016}}
{{Use New Zealand English|date=April 2016}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix =
| name = Roderick Braithwaite
| honorific-suffix =
| image =
| caption =
| birth_name = Roderick Alastair Macdonnell Braithwaite
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1901|08|13|df=y}}
| birth_place = Dunedin, New Zealand
| death_place = Hamilton, New Zealand
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1963|04|03|1901|08|13|df=y}}
| occupation =
| spouse = {{marriage|Nora Kathleen Arey|1932}}
| children = David Braithwaite
| father = Joseph Braithwaite
| order = 24th Mayor of Hamilton
| term_start = 1953
| term_end = 1959
| predecessor = Harold David Caro
| successor = Denis Rogers
| relatives = John Braithwaite (brother)
Rewi Braithwaite (brother)
Warwick Braithwaite (brother)
Nicholas Braithwaite (nephew)
Rodric Braithwaite (nephew)
}}
Roderick Alastair Macdonnell Braithwaite MBE, (13 August 1901 – 3 April 1963) was a New Zealand politician. He was mayor of Hamilton from 1953 to 1959.
Early life and family
Braithwaite was born in Dunedin on 13 August 1901,{{cite news | url=http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=ESD19010814.2.9 | title=Birth | date=14 August 1901 | work=Evening Star | accessdate=17 April 2016 | page=4}} one of the youngest sons of Joseph Braithwaite, bookseller and later mayor of Dunedin, and his wife, Mary Ann Braithwaite (née Bellett). He was one of at least 16{{DNZB|title=Braithwaite, John |first=Ian |last=McGibbon |id=5g193b44 |accessdate=3 May 2014}} and as many as 22 children,{{cite news | url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page10745836 | title=British composer arrives | date=2 April 1947 | work=Northern Star | accessdate=3 May 2014 | page=9}} born to the couple.
His brothers included John Braithwaite, who was convicted and executed for mutiny during World War I and pardoned by the New Zealand government in 2000;{{cite news | url=http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/52876/military-scandal-put-rights | title=Military scandal put to rights | date=25 April 2009 | work=Otago Daily Times | accessdate=17 April 2016 | first=John | last=Gibb}} Rewi Braithwaite, who played in New Zealand's first official international soccer match, against Australia in 1922;{{cite web |url=http://www.ultimatenzsoccer.com/NZRepSoccer/id1561.htm |title=1904–59 |date= |website=The ultimate New Zealand soccer website |publisher= |accessdate=3 May 2014}} and Warwick Braithwaite, who became an orchestral conductor.
Braithwaite married Nora Kathleen Arey, the daughter of bookseller William Ewbank Arey, on 21 June 1932.{{cite web |url=https://www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/Search/Search.aspx?Path=%2FqueryEntry.m%3Ftype%3Dmarriages |title=Marriage search registration number 1932/8514 |date= |website=Births, deaths & marriages online |publisher=Internal Affairs |accessdate=17 April 2016}}{{cite news | url=http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=NZH19351008.2.144 | title=Obituary: Mr. William E. Arey | date=8 October 1935 | work=New Zealand Herald | accessdate=17 April 2016 | page=12}}
Mayoralty
Braithwaite served two terms as mayor of Hamilton, from 1953 to 1959.{{cite news | url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/local-vote-2001/news/article.cfm?c_id=761&objectid=222804 | title=New Waikato mayor savours role reversal | date=14 October 2001 | work=New Zealand Herald | accessdate=17 April 2016 | first=Cathy | last= Aronson}} He called the first public meeting that led to the establishment of the Waikato Savings Bank in 1958, and served as the first chair of its board of trustees.{{cite web |url=http://thecommunityarchive.org.nz/node/68023/description |title=Trust Bank Waikato (1987–1996) |year=2009 |website=The Community Archive |publisher=Archives New Zealand |accessdate=2 April 2016}}
Death and legacy
Braithwaite died on 3 April 1963, and was buried at Hamilton Park Cemetery.{{cite web |url=http://www.hamilton.govt.nz/our-services/do-it-online/cemetery-search/Pages/default.aspx?surname=braithwaite&forename=roderick |title=Cemetery search |date= |website= |publisher=Hamilton City Council |accessdate=17 April 2016}} His widow, Kathleen Braithwaite, served as a Hamilton city councillor between 1962 and 1974, including a period as deputy mayor, and was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire for services to the community in the 1963 Queen's Birthday Honours.{{London Gazette |issue=43012 |date=8 June 1963 |page=4832}} Their son, David Braithwaite, unsuccessfully stood for the Hamilton mayoralty in 1998, but was elected to that office in 2001. He was defeated in his bid for re-election in 2004.{{cite news | url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/local-vote-2004/news/article.cfm?c_id=593&objectid=3599146 | title=Michael Redman becomes new Hamilton mayor | date=9 October 2004 | work=New Zealand Herald | accessdate=17 April 2016}}
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
External links
- Photos - [https://heritage.hamiltonlibraries.co.nz/objects/4262/r-a-m-braithwaite 1945], [https://heritage.hamiltonlibraries.co.nz/objects/4305/mayor-r-braithwaite 1950s]
{{s-start}}
{{s-off}}
{{S-bef|before=Harold David Caro}}
{{s-ttl|title=Mayor of Hamilton|years=1953–1959}}
{{s-aft|after=Denis Rogers}}
{{end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Braithwaite, Roderick}}
Category:Politicians from Dunedin
Category:Mayors of Hamilton, New Zealand
Category:Burials at Hamilton Park Cemetery