William Crowther (New Zealand politician)

William Crowther (1834 – 15 March 1900) was a Mayor of Auckland and then Member of Parliament for Auckland, New Zealand.

William Crowther
A parliamentary sketch of "Hard to drive" William Crowther
17th Mayor of Auckland City
In office 1891–1893
Preceded by	John Upton
Succeeded by	James Job Holland
12th MP for City of Auckland
In office 1893–1900
Preceded by	John Shera
Succeeded by	Joseph Witheford
Personal details
Born	1830 (1830) Slaithwaite, West Riding of Yorkshire, England
Died	March 1900 (aged 65–66) Auckland, New Zealand
Nationality	New Zealand
Political party	New Zealand Liberal Party
Other political affiliations	Independent
Spouse	Georgina Stafford
Occupation	Owner of livery stables; Horse-bus operator; politician
Known for	Mayor of Auckland City

Crowther was Mayor of Auckland from 1891 to 1893, after serving as a city councillor for sixteen years.^[1]

Crowther represented the City of Auckland multi-member electorate first as a Liberal Party then independent conservative from 1893 to 1900, when he died of stomach cancer, aged 66.^[2][3] The resulting by-election on 27 April 1900 was hotly contested,^[4] and won by Joseph Witheford.^[5]

Businessman

William Crowther was born in Slaithwaite, West Riding of Yorkshire, in 1834. Aged nineteen, he migrated to Victoria, and was a successful contractor on the goldfields for ten years. He was then attracted to Otago by the Otago gold rush to the Dunstan, and brought with him a number of teams of horses and waggons. He later moved to Auckland and founded a horse-drawn bus service between Auckland and Remuera, based in the Victoria stables, Wellesley Street East, which he built.^[6]

Politician

in which Mr Crowther, M.H.R., showed how cleverly he could balance himself on the almost invisible line dividing the conflicting parties (1895)

As well as serving on the city council and as Mayor of Auckland, Mr. Crowther was also a member of the governing body of Auckland College and Grammar school, the University College Council, the city schools' committee, the Charitable Aid Board, and Sailors' Home. For some years he was a member of the Harbour Board, and was chairman for a term.^[3][7]

Crowther changed his allegiance from the Liberal Party to Independent before the 1896 election.

New Zealand Parliament

Years	Term	Electorate		Party
1893–1896	12th	City of Auckland			Liberal
1896–1899	13th	City of Auckland			Independent
1899–1900	14th	City of Auckland			Independent

Death

Crowther died on 15 March 1900^[6] and was buried at Purewa Cemetery in the Auckland suburb of Meadowbank.^[8]