27 Facts About Edgar Neale

Gar Edgar Neale's father, Henry Edgar Neale, was born in Nelson and worked as a carpenter.

Edgar Neale was educated at Nelson Central School and Nelson College, where he took a general academic course.

Edgar Neale became a part-time master at the college, teaching Commercial Practice.

Edgar Neale was Secretary of the Nelson College Old Boys Association, and its President.

Edgar Neale was first employed as a law clerk with Maginnity and Son.

Edgar Neale married Florence Myrtle Parsonage, the daughter of Henry Bruce Parsonage and Ellen Penn, on 26 December 1911.

Edgar Neale purchased 241 Bridge Street, Nelson in the late 1920s from the Tilyard family.

Edgar Neale moved to a new home in Moana Avenue on the Port Hills overlooking Tahuna Beach where he resided until his death.

Edgar Neale was a sportsman of reasonable skill playing representative cricket for Nelson and Marlborough, hockey for Marlborough, Nelson, and the South Island, soccer for Nelson, and golf for Nelson.

Edgar Neale loved horse racing and was Secretary of the Nelson Trotting Club from 1923 and the Nelson Jockey Club.

Edgar Neale represented Nelson in cricket from 1904 while still at college aged 16 years.

Edgar Neale first captained Nelson in 1910 when he was only 21 years old.

Edgar Neale continued to represent Nelson until 1945, with a short break playing representative cricket for Marlborough when he lived in Blenheim.

Edgar Neale represented the South Island and the New Zealand Minor Associations in first-class cricket.

Edgar Neale achieved his highest score of 201 runs against Wellington during this period.

Edgar Neale was noted for his memory of cricket history and statistics.

Edgar Neale assisted on a number of organisations: Nelson Provincial Chamber of Commerce Secretary, Nelson Automobile Association, Nelson Progress League, Municipal Association of New Zealand, Cawthorn Institute, National Patriotic Fund, the New Zealand Road Safety Council, and the Nelson Fire Board.

In 1930, Edgar Neale was appointed as a Justice of the Peace.

Edgar Neale was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 1946 New Year Honours and the Coronation Medal in 1953 for service to the community.

Edgar Neale was voted onto the Nelson City Council in 1925 and remained a councillor until 1947.

Edgar Neale went on to say: "I will try to remember that the other fellow has a right to his own opinion" and quoted from Rudyard Kiplings poem If.

Edgar Neale was apparently so ill that he was unable to campaign during the 1951 election and yet increased his majority.

Edgar Neale represented the Nelson electorate from 1946 to 1957, when he retired.

Edgar Neale was a strong supporter of the Nelson railway line, and extending it to link with the South Island system.

Edgar Neale's bibliographer noted that he was one of a few gentlemanly National MPs who were close friends with her.

Edgar Neale died after a period of illness in Nelson on 25 July 1960.

That same day Edgar Neale died, the National Party was holding its conference.