Bill Rogers (New Zealand politician) explained

Honorific-Prefix:The Honourable
Bill Rogers
Order:Member of the Legislative Council
Term Start:15 July 1940
Term End:31 December 1950
Appointer:Peter Fraser
Birth Name:William James Rogers
Birth Date:10 January 1887
Death Place:New Zealand
Relations:Philip Blakeley (son-in-law)
Party:Labour Party

William James Rogers (10 January 1887 – 6 July 1971)[1] was a New Zealand politician. He was a long-serving Mayor of Wanganui, and a member of the New Zealand Legislative Council from 1940 until its abolition in 1950.

Biography

Rogers worked as gardener and miner at Denniston and became involved in trade unionism via the Miners' Union. He was later the secretary of the Wanganui Watersiders' Union.[1] Rogers' daughter, Ida, married electrical engineer Philip Blakeley in 1938.

Rogers was Mayor of Wanganui from 1927 to 1931, and again from 1935 to 1953.[2] He contested the,, and s in the electorate for the Labour Party, but lost to Bill Veitch, the incumbent.[3] [4] [5]

He was appointed to the Legislative Council by the First Labour Government, and was a member from 15 July 1940 to 14 July 1947; and 15 July 1947 to 31 December 1950.[6]

Appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 1954 New Year Honours, Rogers died in 1971.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Rogers, William James, 1887-1971 . Alexander Turnbull Library . 17 August 2019.
  2. Web site: Beaglehole . Diana . Whanganui region - Government . Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. 30 May 2012. 3 November 2011.
  3. Book: The General Election, 1925 . 1926 . Government Printer . 3 . 20 November 2014.
  4. Book: The General Election, 1928 . 1929 . Government Printer . 5 . 29 November 2014.
  5. Book: The General Election, 1931 . 1932 . Government Printer . 5 . 2 November 2014.
  6. Book: Wilson, James Oakley . New Zealand parliamentary record, 1840-1984 . 4 . First ed. published 1913 . 1985 . V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer . Wellington . 154283103 . 163.