Walter Lee (New Zealand politician)

Dr Walter Lee (1811 – 29 January 1887) was a 19th-century New Zealand politician.

Biography

New Zealand Parliament
Years	Term	Electorate		Party
1853–1855	1st	Northern Division		Independent
1855–1860	2nd	Northern Division		Independent

Lee arrived in New Zealand in 1842.[1] He represented the Northern Division (a territory north of Auckland but south of Whangarei) in the 1st Parliament and the 2nd Parliament; serving from 1853 to 1860, when he retired.[2]

A Catholic, Lee opposed the reading of prayers at the start of Parliament, saying that any prayer would have an inevitable bias towards one faith or another.

Lee also served on the Auckland Provincial Council, representing the Northern Division electorate in 1857 and 1858.[3] He was chairman of the initial Auckland City Council. He fell ill with a chronic liver disease and a week later, on 29 January 1887, he died from peritonitis. He was survived by his wife.[1]

Notes

1. "Death of Dr. Lee". The New Zealand Herald. XXIV (7859). 31 January 1887. p. 5. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
2. Scholefield 1950, p. 120.
3. Scholefield 1950, p. 184.

References

• Scholefield, Guy (1950) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1949 (3rd ed.). Wellington: Govt. Printer.