Rod Weir Explained

Sir Rod Weir
Birth Name:Roderick Bignell Weir
Birth Date:14 July 1927
Birth Place:Palmerston North, New Zealand
Death Place:Waikanae, New Zealand
Education:Wanganui Boys' College
Occupation:Businessperson
Years Active:1943–1985
Spouse:
    Relatives:Gillian Weir (sister)

    Sir Roderick Bignell Weir (14 July 1927 – 15 November 2021) was a New Zealand businessman.

    Early life and family

    Weir was born in Palmerston North on 14 July 1927, the son of Clarice Mildred (Bignell) and Cecil Alexander Weir.[1] His younger sister is the organist Dame Gillian Weir, and his brother (1929–2016) was the bookseller and businessman Graham Ashley Weir. He received his schooling at Wanganui Boys' College, now known as Whanganui City College.[2]

    In 1952, Weir married Loys Agnes Wilson, and the couple had one child.[1] After his wife's death in 1984, Weir married again in 1986, to Anna Jane Peacock,[1] who as Anna MacFarlane had contested the Heretaunga electorate for the National Party at the 1984 general election, finishing in second place.[3] [4]

    Business career

    Weir worked for the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company from 1943 to 1963, which in 1961 had become Dalgety & New Zealand Loan Ltd. In 1963, he set up his own stock and station agency branded as Rod Weir & Co. After the merger with other agencies, Crown Corp was formed and eventually, the company purchased the New Zealand interests of Dalgety NZ Ltd. Weir retired from this company as chief executive in 1985. He merged his business with Wrightson NMA in 1986.[5]

    Weir has held a number of appointments. He was a consultant, appointed by the government, on the NZ Apple and Pear Marketing Board. He was chairman of the ASEAN/NZ Business Council, of Amuri Corporation Ltd, of McKechnie Pacific Ltd, and of Sherwood Mercantile Ltd. He was deputy chairman of Rangitira Ltd. He was the director of Sun Alliance Insurance Ltd, Sun Life Assurance Company Ltd, NZ Casing Company Ltd, Bain Clarkson Ltd, Crown Meats Ltd, and a number of other companies.

    Other interests

    Weir was a member of The Salvation Army Advisory Board. He was on the council of the Wellington Medical Research Foundation. He was a board member of the Massey University Agricultural Research Foundation. He chaired the Massey University Business and Property Trust. He was a trustee of the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research, Medic Alert, and Wanganui Boys' College. He held appointments for committees of the National Party.

    Weir was appointed a justice of the peace in 1972.He served as the honorary consul general for Austria from 1976 to 1984.

    Weir died in Waikanae on 15 November 2021, aged 94.[6]

    Honours

    Weir was appointed a Knight Bachelor, for services to farming, commerce, and the community, in the 1984 Queen's Birthday Honours. He was conferred with an honorary Doctor of Science degree by Massey University in 1993.[7] In 2008, he was inducted into the New Zealand Business Hall of Fame for "stock and station leadership"; he was the 100th laureate.[8]

    Notes and References

    1. Book: Taylor . Alister . Coddington . Deborah . Alister Taylor . Deborah Coddington . Honoured by the Queen – New Zealand . 1994 . New Zealand Who's Who Aotearoa . Auckland . 0-908578-34-2 . 388.
    2. Book: Who's Who in New Zealand, 1991 . 29 July 2015 . Lambert . Max . 1991 . 12th . Octopus . Auckland . 679f. 9780790001302.
    3. Book: Norton, Clifford . New Zealand Parliamentary Election Results 1946–1987: Occasional Publications No 1, Department of Political Science . 1988 . Victoria University of Wellington . Wellington . 0-475-11200-8 . 234.
    4. Web site: New Zealand National Party: political pamphlets, fliers and election propaganda, 1985–1987 . National Library of New Zealand . 18 November 2021.
    5. Web site: Weir, Roderick Bignell . New Zealand Business Hall of Fame . 16 June 2020.
    6. News: Sir Roderick Weir death notice . 17 November 2021 . . 17 November 2021.
    7. Web site: Honorary doctorate citation, Sir Roderick Weir . 6 May 1993 . Massey University. 20 November 2021.
    8. Web site: Sir Roderick Weir . New Zealand Business Hall of Fame . 16 June 2020.