Arthur Myers

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Sir Arthur Mielziner Myers (19 May 1868 – 9 October 1926) was a New Zealand politician. He was Mayor of Auckland from 1905 to 1909, Member of the House of Representatives from 1910 to 1921, and a Cabinet Minister. Today he is remembered today for the public works constructed in Auckland during his term as Mayor, including Grafton Bridge and Myers Park.

[edit] Early Life

Myers was born in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia, the child of Louis Myers and Catherine Ehrenfried, a Jewish couple. Following the death of Arthurs father in 1870, Catherine moved to New Zealand where her brothers Louis and Bernard Ehrenfried had established a brewery. An able administrator and something of a financial wizard in 1897 at the age of 30, Myers became Managing Directer of the Campbell and Ehrenfried brewing company, following the death of his uncle Louis Ehrenfried.

[edit] Public Life

He was Mayor of Auckland from 1905 to 1909. He improved the finances of the city administration, improved services such as the water supply and drainage. The construction of the new Auckland Town Hall was largely due to his efforts, as was the new Grafton Bridge across Grafton Gully. Myers Park, located between Karangahape Road and Mayoral Drive, is named after him, as in 1913 he donated £10,000 to develop the previously overgrown gully into a child friendly park and to build the adjacent 'Myers Free Kindergarten' (still operating in the same heritage building).

Active in the volunteer defence movement, he served as major in the 1st Battalion Auckland Infantry Volunteers and as commanding officer, with the rank of lieutenant colonel, of the New Zealand Forces Motor Service Corps.

He entered Parliament in the 1910 Auckland East by-election, and held his seat until 1921, first as an Independent and then from 1911 as a Liberal. In the short-lived Mackenzie administration of 1912 he held three important portfolios. In August 1915 he served as Minister of Customs during the wartime coalition government. For a time he was Minister of Finance, and later Minister in charge of munitions and supplies. In 1924 he was knighted for services to his country.

He died in London in 1926 where he had been living since 1921. He was survived by his children and his wife Vera, who lived on in England until her death in 1965.