DEATH OF SIR GEORGE SHIRTCLIFFE

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 85, Issue 169, 21 July 1941, Page 6

DEATH OF SIR GEORGE SHIRTCLIFFE

ACTIVE COMMERCIAL LIFE SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH (Press Assn.) Wellington, July 20. The acath occur red to-day of b-ir George Shirtcliffe, chairman of directors of A. S. Patterson and Co., Ltd. Born in Worksop, England, in 1862, the late Sir George Shirtcliffe arrived in New Zealand with his parents two years later. He was educated at the Riccarton School, Christ’s College and the Provincial School. His first employment was in the Land Department, Timaru, in 1577. The following year he entered the employ of the National Mortgage and Agency Company, Ltd., Timaru, and rose to the position of accountant in 1880. He then accepted a position as accountant of the Canterbury Farmers' Association, which he held until he was appointed manager in 1884. He remained as manager for six years, and in 1890 he accepted a partnership in A. S. Paterson and Company, Ltd., Dunedin. Ifi 1912 he was made vice-chairman and managing director of the firm and held that position until 1919, when he retired. He was appointed chairman in 1927. Sir George Shirtcliffe had a long association with the commercial life of the Dominion. He became president of the Wellington Chamber of Commerce in 1904 and held office until 1907. He was elected to the Wellington City Council in 1907 and remained a councillor for six years. He served as a member of the Wellington Harbour for two years and was a member of the Hospital Commission in 1921, and of the Taxation Commissions set up in 1922 and 1924. He was a former chairman of the Anglican Synod and chairman of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research from 1927 to 1935. In 1931 he was a member of the Hawke’s Bay Rehabilitation Commission, which did valuable work in the reconstruction after the disastrous Napier earthquake. The following year he was chairman of the National Expenditure Commission. He also served on War Relief Commissions and was a director of the Wellington Investment Trustee and Agency Company, Ltd. His interest in education was marked by the founding of a New Zealand University scholarship in research in 1935. In 1919 he was made an Officer of the British Empire and in 1936 he was knighted.