Henry Thacker

The Honourable Dr Henry Thacker MP
Henry Thacker in 1918
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Christchurch East
In office 1914 – 1922
Preceded by	Thomas Davey
Succeeded by	Tim Armstrong
32nd Mayor of Christchurch
In office 1919–1923
Preceded by	Henry Holland
Succeeded by	James Arthur Flesher
Personal details
Born	(1870-03-20)20 March 1870 Okains Bay, New Zealand
Died	3 May 1939(1939-05-03) (aged 69)
Nationality	New Zealand
Political party	New Zealand Liberal Party
Occupation	doctor

Dr Henry Thomas Joynt Thacker (20 March 1870 – 3 May 1939) was a doctor, New Zealand Member of Parliament and Mayor of Christchurch.

Early life

Thacker was born in Okains Bay on Banks Peninsula on 20 March 1870. His parents were Essy Joynt and John Edward Thacker. His father was an editor of the Sligo Guardian^[1] and after emigration to Christchurch in 1850, launched the second newspaper in Canterbury, the Guardian and Canterbury Advertiser. The newspaper failed after only a few months.^[2]

Henry Thacker attended Boys' High School and then Canterbury College (what is now known as the University of Canterbury), from where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts.^[1][3] He then enrolled at Edinburgh University where he gained his M.B. and C.M. diplomas in 1895. Two years later he gained a fellowship in the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin.^[4]

Return to New Zealand

Thacker returned to Christchurch in 1898 and opened a practice in Latimer Square. He represented Canterbury in rugby union in 1889 and 1891 and assisted in the development of Richard Arnst.^[4] From 1899 he held the rank of Captain in the Army Medical Corps.

Rugby league

Thacker was the first president of the Canterbury Rugby Football League when the organisation began holding competitions in 1913. He served in this position from 1912 until 1929^[5] and became a life member in 1920.^[1] Thacker also donated the Thacker Shield in 1913.^[6] He was the manager of the New Zealand side during their tour of Australia in 1913.^[4]

Political career

Thacker was a member of the Christchurch Hospital Board (1907–1922), Lyttelton Harbour Board (1907–1922), Christchurch City Council (1929–1931) and Mayor of Christchurch between 1919 and 1923. The 1919 mayoral election was contested by Thacker, John Joseph Dougall (Mayor of Christchurch 1911–1912) and James McCombs (MP for Lyttelton).^[7][8]

Thacker contested the 1908 and 1911 general elections without success in the Lyttelton and Christchurch East electorates, respectively.^[4] He then contesting the Lyttelton by-election in 1913 as an independent Liberal, coming fourth with 5% of the vote in the first ballot.

Thacker was a member of the Liberal Party and represented the Christchurch East electorate in the New Zealand House of Representatives from 1914.^[9] He was re-elected in 1919 but was defeated in 1922 by Tim Armstrong from the Labour Party, when he came second out of three candidates.^[10][11]

In 1935, he was awarded the King George V Silver Jubilee Medal.^[12]

Death

Thacker died on 3 May 1939 at Christchurch.^[1] His wife died in 1955, and they are both buried at Waimairi Cemetery.^[13] The Thackers had no children.^[1]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Henry Thacker.

Mayors of Christchurch
Chairman	John Hall John Ollivier Isaac Luck Edward Bishop William Wilson
Mayors	elected by councillors William Wilson John Anderson Andrew Duncan James Jameson Henry Sawtell Edward Bishop Michael Hart Fred Hobbs elected at large Fred Hobbs James Gapes Henry Thomson Charles Thomas Ick James Gapes (2nd) George Ruddenklau Charles Hulbert Aaron Ayers Charles Louisson Samuel Manning Charles Gray William Prudhoe Eden George Thomas Gapes Walter Cooper Harry Joseph Beswick Walter Cooper (2nd) Charles Louisson (2nd) William Reece Arthur Rhodes Henry Wigram Charles Mathew Gray (2nd) John Hall George Payling Charles Allison Thomas Taylor John Joseph Dougall1 Henry Holland Henry Thacker James Arthur Flesher Rev John Archer Dan Sullivan John Beanland Robert Macfarlane Ernest Andrews Robert Macfarlane (2nd) George Manning Ron Guthrey Neville Pickering Hamish Hay Vicki Buck Garry Moore Bob Parker Lianne Dalziel
Mayoral elections	annual term 1875† 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882† 1883 1884† 1885† 1886 1887† 1888† 1889† 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897† 1898† 1899† 1901† 1902† 1903† 1904† 1905 1906† 1907† 1908 1909 1910† 1911 1912 1913 1914 biennial term 1915 1917 1919 1921 1923 1925 1927 1929 1931 1933 triennial term 1935 1936‡ 1938 1941 1944 1947 1950 1953 1956 1958‡ 1959 1962 1965 1968 1971 1974 1977 1980 1983 1986 1989 1992 1995 1998 2001 2004 2007 2010 2013 2016
† Elected unopposed · ‡ By-election · 1 appointed following death of incumbent