Roy McElroy

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific-prefix =

| name = Roy McElroy

| honorific-suffix = {{post-nominals|country=NZL|CMG|size=100%}}

| image = Roy McElroy.jpg

| order = 33rd Mayor of Auckland City

| deputy = Fred Glasse

| predecessor = Dove-Myer Robinson

| successor = Dove-Myer Robinson

| term_start = 28 October 1965

| term_end = 23 October 1968

| birth_name = Roy Granville McElroy

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1907|04|02|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Auckland, New Zealand

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1994|05|16|1907|04|02|df=yes}}

| death_place = Auckland, New Zealand

| spouse = {{marriage|Margaret Lillian Pountney|1936|1943|end=div.}}
Joan Holm Biss (d. 1983)
Betty Joan Boyd MacGregor

| party = National

|}}

Roy Granville McElroy {{post-nominals|country=NZL|CMG|size=85%}} (2 April 1907 – 16 May 1994) was a New Zealand lawyer and politician, who served as mayor of Auckland City from 1965 to 1968.

Early life and career

Born in Auckland on 2 April 1907, McElroy was the son of Herbert Thomas Granville McElroy and Frances Catherine McElroy (née Hampton).[http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whowaswho/U174187 McElroy, Roy Granville], Who Was Who, A & C Black, 1920–2015; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014{{cite web |url=https://www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/search/search?path=%2FqueryEntry.m%3Ftype%3Dbirths |title=Birth search: registration number 1907/10230 |website=Births, deaths & marriages online |publisher=Department of Internal Affairs |access-date=23 July 2017}} He was educated at Thames High School and Auckland Grammar School, and went on to study at Auckland University College from 1924.{{cite news | url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19320502.2.113 | title=Law scholarship | date=2 May 1932 | work=The New Zealand Herald| access-date=23 July 2017 | page=10}}{{cite news | url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AS19291217.2.145 | title=Grammar year | date=17 December 1929 | work= Auckland Star | access-date=23 July 2017 | page=11}} He gained a Bachelor of Laws in 1928, and a Master of Laws with second-class honours in 1929. He worked as a law clerk in Auckland, and in 1932 was awarded a postgraduate scholarship in law by the University of New Zealand. He travelled to Britain and completed a PhD in law at the University of Cambridge in 1934.{{cite news | url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19340609.2.132 | title=Scholastic honour | date=9 June 1934 | work=The New Zealand Herald| access-date=23 July 2017 | page=12}} He was conferred the degree of Doctor of Laws by the University of New Zealand in 1935.{{cite news | url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19351001.2.100 | title=Doctorate of laws | date=1 October 1935 | work=The New Zealand Herald| access-date=23 July 2017 | page=10}}

On 3 December 1936, McElroy married Margaret Lillian Pountney,{{cite web |url=https://www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/search/search?path=%2FqueryEntry.m%3Ftype%3Dmarriages |title=Marriage search: registration number 1936/10602 |website=Births, deaths and marriages online |publisher=Department of Internal Affairs |access-date=23 July 2017}} but they divorced in December 1943.{{cite news | url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19431216.2.14 | title=Divorce cases | date=16 December 1943 | work=The New Zealand Herald| access-date=23 July 2017 | page=2}} He later married Joan Holm Blackie (née Biss), and, following the latter's death, Betty Joan Boyd MacGregor.{{cite web |url=http://www.aucklandcity.govt.nz/dbtw-wpd/msonline//images/manuscripts/inventories/nzms1039inventory.pdf |title=Roy Granville McElroy papers |publisher=Auckland Council |access-date=23 July 2017}}

McElroy later became a partner in the Auckland law firm of McElroy, Duncan and Preddle. During World War II, he served with the 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force from 1940 to 1944, rising to become a captain in 14 Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment.

Political career

McElroy was an Auckland City Councillor for 15 years from 1938 to 1953, when he was deselected by the Citizens and Ratepayers association (C&R). Later, in 1965, he was chosen as the C&R candidate to run against the popular incumbent Mayor Dove-Myer Robinson. He won in 1965 by 1134 votes, but in the next election in 1968, Robinson defeated him by 6000 votes. As both councillor and mayor, he supported housing and urban renewal.

McElroy was the National Party candidate for the {{NZ electorate link|Roskill}} electorate in {{NZ election link year|1943}} and {{NZ election link year|1946}}.{{cite news | title=Electoral | url= https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19431013.2.49.6 | access-date=15 May 2017 | work=The New Zealand Herald | volume=80 | issue=24713 | date=13 October 1943 | page=5}}{{cite web |title=The General Election, 1946 |url= http://www.atojs.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/atojs?a=d&cl=search&d=AJHR1947-I.2.4.2.38 |publisher=National Library |access-date=1 January 2014 |pages=1–11, 14 |year=1947}} He was to stand in Roskill in the cancelled 1941 election.

He later served as the Honorary Consular Agent of France from 1948 to 1972 and was awarded the Chevalier of the Légion d’honneur by the French president, Georges Pompidou, in 1970. In the 1972 New Year Honours, McElroy was appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George, for services to the community.{{London Gazette |issue=45556 |date=1 January 1972 |page=41 |supp=3}}

Death

McElroy died in Auckland on 16 May 1994, and his ashes were buried at Purewa Cemetery.{{cite web |url=http://www.purewa.co.nz/view/?id=7444 |title=Burial & cremation details |publisher=Purewa Cemetery and Crematorium |access-date=23 July 2017}}