Ted Meachen Explained

Ted Meachen
Constituency Mp1:Wairau
Parliament1:New Zealand
Term Start1:27 November 1935
Term End1:15 October 1938
Predecessor1:Edward Healy
Successor1:seat abolished
Constituency Mp2:Marlborough
Parliament2:New Zealand
Term Start2:15 October 1938
Term End2:27 November 1946
Predecessor2:Edward Healy
Successor2:Tom Shand
Order3:27th
Office3:Mayor of Blenheim
Term Start3:1953
Term End3:1962
Predecessor3:Bert Mitchell
Successor3:Sid Harling
Birth Name:Edwin Purcell Meachen
Birth Date:11 November 1895
Birth Place:Wanganui, New Zealand
Death Date:11 July 1970
Death Place:Blenheim, New Zealand
Relatives:Tristan Hegglun (son-in-law)
Party:Labour

Edwin Purcell Meachen (11 November 1895 – 11 July 1970) was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party.

Biography

Early life and career

Meachen was born in Whanganui in 1895. He was educated at Christchurch Marist Brothers' School and worked as a builder afterwards. During World War I he served in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force. He fought in Gallipoli and France and was wounded twice.

He resumed building after the war and also represented Mid-Canterbury at rugby union (1921–23) and Canterbury at rugby league (1924). He then moved to the King Country and was employed by the Ministry of Works building bridges and houses for railways. During this time he became active in the New Zealand Workers' Union and joined the Labour Party. In 1930 he relocated to Marlborough to construct a railway camp at Wharanui.

Political career

He represented the Marlborough electorates of Wairau from 1935 to 1938, and then Marlborough from 1938 to 1946 when he was defeated. He first stood for Wairau in 1931.

Meachen was Parliamentary Under-Secretary to the Minister of Works from 1945 to 1946.

He was the Mayor of Blenheim from 1953 to 1962 and Chairman of the Marlborough Catchment Board from its inception in 1955 until his death 1970. He was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire, for services to the community, particularly to local government, in the 1968 Queen's Birthday Honours.

Later life and death

Meachen died in 1970 and was buried at Omaka Cemetery, Blenheim.[1]

References

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Cemetery records search . Marlborough District Council . 1 March 2015.