Ernest Andrews

Sir Ernest Herbert Andrews CBE (25 June 1873 – 9 November 1961) was a New Zealand teacher, printer and cricketer and local-body politician. He was on the Christchurch City Council from 1919 and Mayor of Christchurch from 1941 until his retirement in 1950.

Sir Ernest Andrews CBE
Andrews c. 1944
38th Mayor of Christchurch
In office 28 May 1941 – 1950
Preceded by	Robert Macfarlane
Succeeded by	Robert Macfarlane
Personal details
Born	25 June 1873 Brightwater, New Zealand
Died	9 November 1961 (aged 88) Christchurch, New Zealand
Resting place	Bromley Cemetery
Nationality	New Zealand
Spouse(s)	Caroline Maria Couzins (1872 – 27 December 1937) Florence May Emmett
Relations	Eveleyn Charlotte Couzins (1896–1945) (first wife's niece)
Children	Alpha Herbert (b 1901) Pelham Winter (b 1904) Gwendoline Cynthia (b 1909)
Alma mater	Canterbury University College

Early life and family

Andrews was born in Brightwater[1] near Nelson in 1873. His father was Thomas Andrews, who had come to New Zealand in 1842 and died in 1905.[2][3] He received his education at Canterbury University College.[2]

Andrews married Caroline Maria Couzins (born 5 August 1872) on 14 March 1900. They had three children: Alpha Herbert (1901–2002), Pelham Winter (1904–1998) and Gwendoline Cynthia (1909–1999).[4] Eveleyn Charlotte Couzins (1896–1945) was his first wife's niece.[5]

After university, Andrews was a teacher; he passed his teachers' examinations in early 1896.[6] In his initial placement, he was a teacher aid at Kaituna on Banks Peninsula.[7] He taught at Heretaunga School in Hastings from late 1896 until March 1899[8][9] and then at Riwaka School in the Tasman District until February 1907.[10] He moved to Christchurch and founded a printing firm, Andrews and Sando. His business partner was his cousin Archibald Sando, whose mother was a sister of Thomas Andrews. The business partnership was dissolved in 1908 and Sando became manager of the Wellington Publishing Company, which owned The Dominion newspaper.[11][12][13]

Andrews played representative cricket from 1890 to 1907.[2] In 1892, he was a founding member of the Ashburton Union Cricket Club and he became the inaugural secretary.[14] While in Hastings, he played for the Hawke's Bay County Cricket Club.[9] He was then a member of the Riwaka Cricket Club.[15] Later, he played for the Canterbury Druids.[16][17]

Political career

Samoan high chiefs Tupua Tamasese Meaʻole (fifth from left) and Malietoa Tanumafili II (second from right) welcomed to Christchurch in 1945 by Mayor Ernest Andrews (fourth from left) and Deputy-Mayor Melville Lyons (right)

In August 1910, Andrews stood for election for the North Canterbury Education Board in the central ward, but was beaten by Dr. Charles James Russell.[18] In April 1911, he was elected onto the school committee of St Albans School, for which he became secretary.[19] In August 1912, Andrews was successful in standing for the North Canterbury Education Board.[20]

Andrews was elected as councillor onto Christchurch City Council in 1919. He was reported to be under consideration as a possible candidate for the Citizens' Association for the 1929 mayoralty, but he was not chosen.[21] In 1941, he was elected as mayor, a position that he held for three terms until his retirement in 1950. He provided continuous service to Christchurch City Council for 31 years.[22]

Andrews' first wife died in 1937, before he became mayor, and so his niece, Eveleyn Couzins, acted as the mayoress from 1941 until her death in 1945. Couzins made a valued contribution to the community, especially through the organisation of parcels for dispatch to New Zealand servicemen abroad. Although she had suffered from some minor illnesses, she continued to carry out her duties as mayoress until she became seriously ill, two weeks before her death in June 1945.[5] She is buried in B24P188 in Linwood Cemetery.[23] Andrews' daughter Gwendoline then took over the role of mayoress.[4]

Andrews was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for social welfare and patriotic services in the 1946 New Year Honours,[24] and a Knight Bachelor in the 1950 King's Birthday Honours,[25] the first Christchurch serving mayor to be so honoured. He retired in October 1950, having had been mayor for longer than any other incumbent up to that time.

Later life

Andrews died in Christchurch on 9 November 1961. The funeral service took place at the Rugby Street Methodist church, with which Andrews had been long associated. He is buried at Bromley Cemetery, with his first wife.[4] The simple Andrews grave states that Caroline Andrews lived from 1872–1937 and Ernest Andrews from 1873–1961.[26]

He was survived by his second wife, Florence May Emmett.[26]

Honorific eponym

Andrews Crescent in the suburb of Spreydon is named in his honour.[27]

Notes

1. "Men of Brightwater". Gisborne Herald. LXXIII (22170). 5 November 1946. p. 4. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
2. Scholefield 1951, p. 6.
3. "Deaths". Colonist (11378). 10 July 1905. p. 2. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
4. "William COUZENS – Census Lookup". Retrieved 11 February 2010.
5. "Eveleyn Charlotte Couzins 1896–1945". Christchurch City Libraries. Archived from the original on 7 February 2010. Retrieved 11 February 2010.
6. "Teachers' Examinations". New Zealand Mail (1252). 27 February 1896. p. 39. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
7. "Board of Education". Lyttelton Times. XCVI (11065). 17 September 1896. p. 3. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
8. "The Heretaunga School". Hastings Standard (198). 16 December 1896. p. 2. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
9. "Hastings". Hawke's Bay Herald. XXXIV (11187). 31 March 1899. p. 4. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
10. "Valedictory". Motueka Star. VIII (572). 1 March 1907. p. 4. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
11. "Personal". Lyttelton Times. CXIX (14741). 21 July 1908. p. 7. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
12. "Aircraftsman K. W. Sando". The Press. LXXVI (23118). 6 September 1940. p. 10. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
13. "Archibald Sando". NZ Truth. 29 April 1916. p. 7. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
14. "The Ashburton Guardian". Ashburton Guardian. XIII (2736). 3 August 1892. p. 2. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
15. "Riwaka". Colonist. XLIII (9606). 11 October 1899. p. 2. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
16. "Cricket". Lyttelton Times. CXIV (16128). 3 January 1913. p. 9. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
17. "News in brief". The Sun. I (206). 5 October 1914. p. 10. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
18. "Education Board Election". Ashburton Guardian. XXXI (8133). 10 August 1910. p. 2. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
19. "School Committee Elections". The Star (10136). 25 April 1911. p. 1. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
20. "North Canterbury Education Board". The Press. XLVIII (144257). 7 August 1912. p. 5. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
21. "Local and general". Nelson Evening Mail. LXIII. 15 January 1929. p. 4. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
22. "Councillors of the City of Christchurch". Christchurch: Christchurch City Council. Archived from the original on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 9 July 2011.
23. "Christchurch City Council Cemeteries Database Result Detail". Christchurch City Libraries. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
24. "No. 37410". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 January 1946. p. 159.
25. "No. 38931". The London Gazette (Supplement). 8 June 1950. p. 2813.
26. Greenaway, Richard L. N. (June 2007). "Bromley Cemetery Tour" (PDF). Retrieved 11 February 2010.
27. "Christchurch street names: A" (PDF). Christchurch City Libraries. 20 February 2014. Retrieved 11 May 2014.

References

• Scholefield, Guy (1951). Who's Who in New Zealand (5th ed.). Wellington: A.H. & A.W. Reed.