William Thomas Strand, “grand old man of Lower Hutt”.

William Thomas Strand (1875-1960) was also known as the “grand old man of Lower Hutt”. He was Mayor of Lower Hutt from 1921-1929 and again from 1931-1933. The Strand in Wainuiomata and Strand Park in Lower Hutt city are both named after him.

He and his two brothers, Charles and John, were in business together as sawmillers and builders in the early 1900s. Their sawmill was in Rata Road. They built many houses and also bought large blocks of land – in 1905 they bought the Crowther farm, an investment for the ‘Strand Bro.s’ in northern Wainuiomata. They formed the ‘Riverside Dairy Company’ that managed and leased farms.

Strand golden wedding party, Lower Hutt, 1912. William Strand (senior) and his wife Elizabeth (nee Morris), both originally from Kent, celebrate their golden wedding anniversary. Future Mayor William T. Strand is seated next to his father (to the left).
Hutt City Libraries collection

His parents William Strand (senior) and Elizabeth emigrated from Kent, England to Wellington, arriving on the ship ‘Berar‘ in January 1875. The cost of the journey with 4 children to the Government was 58 pounds. William Thomas was their first NZ- born child.

NZ passenger lists https://www.familysearch.org/en

He was first elected to the Lower Hutt Borough Council in 1920 and challenged the then Mayor Mr. E. Rishworth over his idea to erect a separate gasworks in Lower Hutt. This resulted in a mayoral contest that Mr. Strand won. Mayor Strand then advocated for the Gas Board to be set up in the 1920s.

Lower Hutt Mayor William Thomas Strand with James Stonehouse, standing on the steps of the Post Office (corner of Laings Road and High Street) c1927. At the back, behind Mr Stonehouse, is Town Clerk B.S. Knox (with hat).
Hutt City Libraries collection

One of Mayor Strand’s most important acts was the diversion of the railway from the western to the eastern side of Hutt River. The Government agreed to buy the land and some of this land later became housing.

In 1924 the Council acquired the land to create Riddiford Park. Mrs Catherine Strand, the Mayor’s wife, was instrumental in creating the Park. Riddiford Park was completed in 1932, sadly after Mrs Strand died in 1930.

Recently opened Riddiford Gardens, with the pond in the foreground, 1935. Hutt City Libraries collection

Another project was widening lower High Street and also buying Feist’s building. On the site part of the Lower Hutt Civic Centre was built. Mr Strand was also on the River Board and approved licensing people to take shingle from the riverbed and pay the Council for it rather than dredging the River.

A milestone for Lower Hutt under Mayor Strand was also the opening of a new Ewen Bridge. In 1929 Prime Minister Sir Joseph Ward opened the Bridge with Mayor Strand present.

‘Bygone days in Lower Hutt’, p. 39, by George Kaye.

In 1949 William Strand gave 150 acres of land at Naenae to the Methodist Board on the agreement of them building a modern, undenominational ‘Eventide home’ for the aged. He also gifted 50 acres of land at Naenae for a youth centre run by the Hutt Rotary Club.

A group of people watch a bulldozer turn the first sod in the construction of Eventide Home in Lower Hutt. The bulldozer is being driven by Mrs W H Greenslade and former Lower Hutt mayor, Mr W. T. Strand, is riding the bulldozer. 19 Jun 1951. Eventide Home. Evening post. Ref: 114/314/02-F.
Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, NZ. /records/23053179

He received the New Year’s Honour of an M.B.E in 1957 to honour his progressive work for Hutt City. Governor General Sir Arthur Porritt presented this to William Strand in his home.

William Thomas Strand, aged 81, awarded the M.B.E. in 1958, pictured with his wife, Myrtle. He is at home in his house in Melling Road. Hutt News, 19 March 1958. Hutt City Libraries collection

Personal life

William and his first wife Catherine had a son and a daughter. Their son William Charles Strand was tragically killed in a plane crash in 1931, aged 29. William Strand claimed damages from the plane company for pilot error. Waipukurau Press, 21 Dec 1931 (Papers Past NZ).

After his first wife Catherine died in 1930, William Strand married Myrtle Hughes (nee Routley) in 1936. William’s daughter Ruth was an agricultural scientist who lived in England for years working alongside her husband, fellow scientist William Allcroft. They returned to NZ where Ruth was awarded an Order of the British Empire award.