Sir George Matthew Fowlds was a New Zealand politician of the Liberal Party.
23 Facts About George Fowlds
1.
2.
George Fowlds's father, Matthew Fowlds, was a handloom weaver and was the last surviving member of the Fenwick Weavers' Society.
3.
George Fowlds did his apprenticeship at a clothier in Kilmarnock, and later worked in Glasgow, where he attended night classes at Anderson's College.
4.
George Fowlds built up a business as a clothier in Victoria Street.
5.
George Fowlds represented the City of Auckland electorate from 1899 to 1902, and then the Grey Lynn electorate from 1902 to 1911.
6.
In 1890, George Fowlds moved his family to Mount Albert, to a large country house known as Greystone Knowe.
7.
George Fowlds was a firm believer in a single tax and was by extension the president of the New Zealand Land Values League, a Georgist group dedicated to implementing a land value tax.
8.
In 1905 George Fowlds decided to return to Scotland for his father's 100th birthday.
9.
George Fowlds decided he needed a New Zealand passport when his ship was about to leave, though they were not then usually required for overseas travel; an inconvenience to the department, and to the Governor who then personally signed each New Zealand passport.
10.
George Fowlds was "in favour of the referendum and an elective Executive".
11.
George Fowlds immediately earned a reputation as a left-wing among Liberals and was kept out of the cabinet by Seddon, who though he would have made a good minister but for his belief in the single tax.
12.
George Fowlds was appointed Minister of Education and Minister of Public Health in 1906 before dropping the health portfolio in 1909 when he was instead designated Minister of Customs and Minister of Immigration.
13.
George Fowlds resigned from Cabinet in September 1911 over the single tax issue.
14.
George Fowlds stayed in Parliament so he could remain a private member until there was "a truly democratic party in a position to form a government".
15.
In 1911, George Fowlds introduced the Proportional Representation And Effective Voting Bill.
16.
George Fowlds stood as an Independent Liberal Labour candidate for Grey Lynn in the 1911 election.
17.
George Fowlds then became involved in the task of creating a moderate Labour Party in New Zealand and was a high-profile attendee of the Labour Unity Conferences.
18.
George Fowlds joined the United Labour Party and was chairman of the Auckland ULP from 1912 to 1913.
19.
George Fowlds was the first chairman of Massey Agricultural College from 1927 to 1934.
20.
George Fowlds died on 17 August 1934 at Auckland and was survived by his wife.
21.
George Fowlds was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1919, and appointed a Knight Bachelor, for public services, in the 1928 King's Birthday Honours.
22.
The personal papers of Sir George Fowlds are housed in Special Collections at the University of Auckland Library.
23.
One of his sons, William Forrest George Fowlds, was a member of the Auckland City Council from 1941 to 1947.