William Thomas Strand

Strand was a farmer and was chairman of the Hutt River Board. In April 1921 he was elected to the Lower Hutt Borough Council.[1] In December 1921 Strand and the Mayor, Percy Rishworth, disagreed with the erection of a gasworks in Lower Hutt. The public supported a new gasworks in a plebiscite but Strand and the Ratepayers' Association opposed it. Strand made a speech to the Ratepayers' Association accusing Rishworth of a 'breach of faith' which was later leaked and published in newspapers. At the next council meeting Rishworth addressed the matter and challenged Strand to resign along with himself and contest an election for mayor.[2] Strand accepted the challenge and defeated Rishworth in the by-election.[3] In 1923 Strand secured possession of land in the Hutt Valley and he handed over ownership to the central government. Working with the government he worked to have the land used for constructing state houses. In 1926 they opened and were sold specifically to people unable to afford State Advances Corporation loans.[4]

He served as mayor until 1929 when he declined to seek re-election. He was speculated as a potential candidate for the Reform Party at the 1929 Hutt by-election by media.[5] However he declined to be a candidate. Two years later his successor as mayor, Sir Alex Roberts, also declined to seek another term and Strand was persuaded to stand again, succeeding him unopposed. He retired in 1933.[6]

He was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in the 1957 New Year Honours for his services to local government.[7]

His first wife, Catherine Margaret Sheil, died on 18 October 1930 aged 55.[8] In 1936 he remarried to Myrtle Katherine Hughes.[9]

His son, engineer William Charles Strand, was killed is a plane crash in 1931 at the North Clyde railway yards in Wairoa.[10] The accident occurred when performing a mail drop to the town, which was cut off after damage to roads due to the 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake. Strand sued Dominion Airlines for £5000 in damages for his son's death arguing negligence on the basis that the pilot, Ivan Kight, did not possess the necessary licence required to fly either passengers or goods. The judge found that the cause of the crash was negligence on the part of the pilot and awarded Strand £3000 plus costs. Dominion Airlines was awarded costs by the Court of Appeal, but the airline was eventually forced into liquidation.[11]

• McGill, David (1991). Lower Hutt – The First Garden City. Petone, New Zealand: The Lower Hutt City Council. ISBN 1-86956-003-5.