NEW ZEALAND PORTRAITS.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XI, Issue 34, 26 August 1893, Page 128

NEW ZEALAND PORTRAITS.

MR EDEN GEORGE, the present Mayor of Christchurch, whose portrait we give below, is the

youngest Mayor that has ever held the position in Christchurch, being twenty-nine years of age. Since Mr George took the chair in December last, the relations between himself and a large section of his Councillors have been of a very strained character. It appears that Mr George was never in the Council previous to his election as Mayor, and consequently as this was the first Mayor of Christchurch ever chosen from outside the rank of Councillors, the fact caused great irritation among most of the sitting members of the Council, who had felt that they as Councillors possessed an inherent right to the chair. A general resignation was first talked of, but wiser counsels prevailed, and this was not carried out. There was, however, somewhat of a scene at the first meeting of the Council. After the election of the new M ryor, that gentleman was severely indisposed, but determinedly attended to take the chair for the first time. His health did not, however, save him from attacks of considerable bitterness from the adverse Councillors on that occasion.

Mr Eden George was born in New South Wales, and after receiving his primary education at private schools finished it at the Sydney Grammar Schoo], which is the leading college of that city. Mr George took to photography as a profession, and during the prosecution of his professional career has travelled pretty widely through the colonies. He will perhaps be remembered by Aucklanders as a partner in the original firm of Tuttle and Co., which is now carried on by that clever young artist, Mr Clemens, of Auckland.

Mr George started his public career by offering himself as a candidate for Christchurch south at the 1887 elections. He was then unsuccessful, as he has been on several subsequent occasions. It will be remembered how Mr George claimed the Agent-General’s late seat on a technical point—a point which was at the time considered good by many authorities, but which Judge Williams refused to uphold (on an election petition being lodged). The seat was awarded to Mr Sandford.

Last November Mr George announced himself as a candidate for the Mayoralty. He came out victorious, although opposed by two councillors. It is, moreover, an open secret that Mr George is to be a candidate for that constituency at the ensuing general elections, and that he will run in the labour interest.

The news of the death of Dr. Edward Shortland, which arrived after we had gone to press last week, reminds one forcibly of how soon public men are forgotten. Dr. Shortland was with his brother one of the most prominent figures in New Zealand, yet so much had he been forgotten in his absence that the news of hie death attracted but little notice. In March, 1841, Dr. E Shortland came to New Zealand as secretary to Governor Hobson. He was a linguist of repute, an M.A., and the finest Maori scholar of hie time. He wrote several books on Maori subjects which are regarded as standaid works.