Harold Caro

Harold David Caro OBE (1 September 1887 – 10 June 1964) was the 23rd mayor of Hamilton, New Zealand and a Hamilton businessman. He was awarded the OBE in 1950.

Harold David Caro
23rd Mayor of Hamilton
In office 1938–1953
Preceded by	John Robert Fow
Succeeded by	Roderick Braithwaite
Personal details
Born	1 September 1887 Christchurch, New Zealand
Died	10 June 1964 (aged 76)
Political party	Democrat
Spouse(s)	Rubina Ballin ​ (m. 1916)​

Biography

He was born in Christchurch to Mrs Lewis Caro the eighth of ten children. He was educated in Parnell, Auckland and was employed by P Hayman of Auckland. Then he was a partner in Caro Bros, Auckland from 1910 to 1923. In 1923 he founded Caros GBS or Great Bargain Stores in Hamilton.

He was on the Hamilton Borough Council from 1931 to 1953, and was Mayor of Hamilton from 1938 to 1953, when he was defeated. He was chairman of the Waikato Hospital Board from 1948 to 1953, and chairman of the Waikato Patriotic Fund Board from 1939 to 1954. He was re-elected to the Hamilton City Council in 1959.

Caro contested the seat of Hamilton at the 1935 general election for the anti-Labour Democrat Party, polling third with 20% of the vote.[1][2]

He married Rubina Iris 'Renee' Ballin daughter of Bernhard Ballin of Christchurch in 1916. He had one son David Bernard Caro FRCS born 08 February 1922. In 1961 he was living in Raglan.

Notes

1. The New Zealand Official Year-Book. Government Printer. 1936. Archived from the original on 1 May 2012. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
2. "Democrat Candidate". The New Zealand Herald. LXXII (22217). 18 September 1935. p. 10. Retrieved 13 March 2016.

References

• Who’s Who in New Zealand (7 ed.). Wellington: Reed. 1961 [1908]. p. 89.
• Simpson, Frank A (1956) [1908]. Who’s Who in New Zealand (6 ed.). Wellington: Reed. p. 66.
• Scholefield, G. H. (1951) [1908]. Who’s Who in New Zealand (5 ed.). Wellington: Reed. p. 42.

External links

• 1945 photo