William Ott
{{Short description|New Zealand mayor and businessman}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2012}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2020}}
{{Infobox MP
|honorific-prefix =
|name = William Ott
|honorific-suffix =
|image = William Alexander Ott.jpg
|alt =
|caption = William Ott
|order5 = 28th
|office5 = Mayor of Invercargill
|term_start5 = 1910
|term_end5 = 1912
|predecessor5 = Charles Steven Longuet
|successor5 = William Benjamin Scandrett
|birth_date = {{birth date|1872|12|26|df=y}}
|birth_place = Invercargill, New Zealand
|death_date = {{death date and age|1951|01|04|1872|12|26|df=y}}
|death_place =
|restingplace = Eastern Cemetery, Invercargill
|restingplacecoordinates =
|birthname =
|nationality = New Zealand
|party =
|spouse = {{Plainlist|
- Isabella Frew Ott (m. 1901, d. 1922)
- Marjory Forsyth Ott (m. 1925; d. 1945)
}}
|relations =
|children =
|residence =
|occupation =
|profession =
|religion =
|signature =
|signature_alt =
}}
William Alexander Ott (1872–1951) was a prominent Invercargill, New Zealand sharebroker and businessman and Mayor of Invercargill from 1910 to 1912. During his mayoralty, the Invercargill tram network was opened.
Biography
Ott was born in Invercargill in 1872{{cite book |title=The Cyclopedia of New Zealand : Otago & Southland Provincial Districts |year=1905 |url= http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-Cyc04Cycl-t1-body1-d6-d2-d5.html#name-429798-mention |publisher=The Cyclopedia of New Zealand |author=Cyclopedia Company Limited |access-date= 31 July 2012 |location=Christchurch |chapter=Borough Of Invercargill}} the younger son of John George Ott, an Invercargill tailor,{{cite book |title=The Cyclopedia of New Zealand : Otago & Southland Provincial Districts |year=1905 |url= http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-Cyc04Cycl-t1-body1-d6-d2-d56.html |publisher=The Cyclopedia of New Zealand |author=Cyclopedia Company Limited |access-date= 31 July 2012 |location=Christchurch |chapter=Old Colonists}}Note that the year of arrival is wrong by 10 years in The Cyclopedia of New Zealand, which is not too unusual for this vanity press{{cite web |title=Birth Search |url= https://www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/Search/Search.aspx?Path=%2FqueryEntry.m%3Ftype%3Dbirths |publisher=Department for Internal Affairs|access-date=3 August 2012 | postscript = Enter registration number '1873/20588'}} and Margaret Murray who had married in Dunedin in 1862.{{cite news |title=Birth |url= http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=OW18620111.2.8 |access-date=3 August 2012 |newspaper=Otago Witness |date=11 January 1862|issue=528|page=5}} Ott also had an elder sister and a sister Margaret who died in 1870 aged four months. He trained as an accountant and became a fellow of the New Zealand Accountants' and Auditors' Association.
Ott's family came from the German village of Dörnach which is these days part of Pliezhausen in Tübingen. His uncle (Johan Jacob) Jacob Ott came to Dunedin in the early 1850s. Jacob was a shoemaker and came out employed by the Lutheran Mission under Johann Friedrich Heinrich Wohlers. Not a missionary himself, Jacob later owned the Whitehouse Hotel in Waikiwi.{{cite web|last=Yates|first=Lynly Lessels|title=Junction Hotel – Grand Junction Hotel – Wallacetown Junction Hotel Lorneville Hotel and Whitehouse Hotel |url= http://lynly.gen.nz/HAWhiteHouseHotel.pdf |access-date=5 August 2012 |format=PDF|date=15 July 2011}} Jacob financed two of his siblings to follow him out to New Zealand; his sister Maria Barbara who appears on the shipping list as Elizabeth as well as William's father (Johan Georg) George.{{cite news|title=Shipping News |url= http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=OW18570418.2.6 |access-date=5 August 2012|newspaper=Otago Witness |date=18 April 1857|issue=281|page=4}} The pair arrived in Dunedin from London on the Maori on 16 April 1857.
William Ott was elected onto the Invercargill Borough Council in 1900. In April 1910, he was elected unopposed to the Invercargill mayoralty.{{cite news|title=In other centres |url= http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=CHP19100421.2.45 |access-date=3 August 2012 |newspaper=The Press|volume=LXVI |issue=13713 |date=21 April 1910|page=8}} A year later, he was re-elected unopposed.{{cite news|title=In other centres |url= http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=CHP19110427.2.61.20 |access-date=3 August 2012 |newspaper=The Press|volume=LXVII |issue=14028 |date=27 April 1911|page=8}} Ott did not contest the 1912 mayoral election; it was won by William Benjamin Scandrett, who defeated Andrew Bain.{{cite news|title=From other Centres |url= http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=TC19120425.2.77.7 |access-date=3 August 2012|newspaper=Colonist|volume=LIV |issue=13400 |date=25 April 1912|page=7}}
File:Opening of the Invercargill Tramways.jpg William Ott seated in the centre of the front row]]
During his mayoralty, he opened the electric Invercargill tram network, with the Prime Minister Joseph Ward in attendance.{{cite news|title=Invercargill Tramways |url= http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=CHP19120327.2.5 |access-date=3 August 2012|newspaper=The Press|volume=LXVIII |issue=14314 |date=27 March 1912|page=2}}{{cite news |last=Fallow |first=Michael |title=Film of trams unearthed |url= http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/culture/2834942/Film-of-trams-unearthed |access-date=3 August 2012|newspaper=The Southland Times |date=5 September 2009}} It was the southernmost tram system in the world.{{cite news|title=Sounds Historical |url= http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/soundshistorical/20111127 |access-date=4 August 2012|newspaper=Radio New Zealand|date=27 November 2011}} At the occasion, Ott was handed a cloak from the late paramount chief Topi Patuki. The Ott family returned the cloak to descendants of Patuki after six members of his family died in May 2006 when the fishing vessel Kotuku overturned in Foveaux Strait.{{cite web|title=Restoring Taonga|url= http://www.tekaraka.co.nz/Blog/inside-50/restoring-taonga |publisher=Te Karaka|access-date=4 August 2012}}{{cite news|title=Lessons to be learnt from fatal capsize |url= http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/22012/Lessons-to-be-learnt-from-fatal-capsize |access-date=4 August 2012|newspaper=Stuff |date=25 October 2007}}
Family and death
On 17 April 1901, William Alexander Ott married Isabella Frew Campbell of Invercargill.{{cite news|title=Marriages |url= http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=OW19010424.2.93 |access-date=3 August 2012|newspaper=Otago Witness |date=24 April 1901|issue=2458|page=41}} They were to have one son and one daughter: William Frew Murray Ott (1903–1993; known as Murray) and Marjory Isabel Ott (b. 1908). Their mother died in 1922.{{cite web|title=Cemetery search |url= https://icc.govt.nz/cemetery-result/?id=57561 |publisher=Invercargill City Council|access-date=3 August 2012}} In 1925, he married Marjory Forsyth Dobie. They had two sons, Alexander Bruce Ott (known as Bruce), born 26 March 1927 and J. Malcolm Ott (known as Malcolm), born 3 June 1930.{{cite web|title=OTT marriages New Zealand 1858–1930|url= http://www.familytreecircles.com/ott-marriages-new-zealand-1858-1930-29891.html |publisher=ngairedith |access-date=3 August 2012}} His second wife died in 1945.{{cite web|title=Cemetery search |url= https://icc.govt.nz/cemetery-result/?id=57561 |publisher=Invercargill City Council|access-date=3 August 2012}}
Ott's mother Margaret died in 1907 and his father George died in 1909. His eldest brother John George Ott born 1864 who spent most of his adult life in California died in 1954. William Ott died on 4 January 1951, aged 78 years. All are buried in the family grave in the Invercargill Eastern Cemetery.{{cite web|title=Cemetery search |url= http://www.icc.govt.nz/ServicesA-Z/Cemeteries/CemeterySearch.aspx?CER_Surname=OTT&33532 |publisher=Invercargill City Council|access-date=3 August 2012}}
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
External links
{{Commons category|William Ott}}
- [http://www.odt.co.nz/opinion/100-years-ago/145164/first-infantry-battalion-plans-takeover-forbury-park 100 years ago], a 2011 article in the Otago Daily Times showing Joseph Ward, Lord Islington and Mayor Ott returning from Stewart Island
{{s-start}}
{{s-off}}
{{s-bef | before = Charles Steven Longuet}}
{{s-ttl | title=Mayor of Invercargill|years= 1910–1912}}
{{s-aft | after = William Benjamin Scandrett}}
{{s-end}}
{{Mayors of Invercargill}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ott, William Alexander}}
Category:Burials at Eastern Cemetery, Invercargill
Category:Invercargill City Councillors
Category:Deputy mayors of Invercargill
Category:Mayors of Invercargill