Sir William Gaston Walkley was a New Zealand oil company executive.
17 Facts About William Walkley
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William Walkley was born in Otaki, New Zealand, on 1 November 1896 to Herbert and Jessie William Walkley, who were British immigrants.
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In 1917 William Walkley enlisted in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, getting as far as England.
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William Walkley was first married at a registry office in Andover, Hampshire, England in July 1919 to Marjory Ponting; this marriage soon ended in divorce.
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On returning to New Zealand from England William Walkley applied to become an associate of the New Zealand Society of Accountants and starting a practice in Hawera in 1922.
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In 1931, with Hawera car dealer William Arthur O'Callaghan and a series of North Island businessman including the Todd Family, Walkley was a co-founder of the Associated Motorists' Petrol Co.
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William Walkley was managing director of the company from 1939 until he retired in 1963.
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In 1953 after striking oil at Rough Range near Exmouth, William Walkley walked down Pitt Street, Sydney in a red ten gallon hat, stopping traffic.
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In 1960 William Walkley joined the board of the Royal New South Wales Institution for Deaf and Blind Children, becoming president in 1965.
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William Walkley was responsible for having the Canada Cup tournament held at Royal Melbourne Golf Club in 1959.
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William Walkley, with Sir Frank Packer, Richard Dickson, Bill Northam and Noel Foley, was a member of the ownership syndicate of the 1962 America's Cup challenger Gretel.
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Between 1963 and 1970 William Walkley was president of the Australian Soccer Federation.
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William Walkley stated that soccer had a role in bringing Australians together saying that it was "the sport that could do most to bring old and new Australians together and aid the newcomers' assimilation".
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In 1966 William Walkley became the inaugural president of the Oceania Football Confederation.
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In 1956 William Walkley founded the William Walkley Awards for excellence in Australian journalism.
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William Walkley remained involved in presenting the awards until the year before his death despite his ill health.
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William Walkley was the great nephew of The Times literary critic Arthur William Walkley.