George Manning

Sir George Manning (11 February 1887 – 29 December 1976) was Mayor of Christchurch from 1958 to October 1968, when he retired. He served a total of 34 years on the Christchurch City Council.

Biography Early life and career Manning was born in Gowerton, Wales, on 11 February 1887. He was the son of Richard Manning (a steel worker) and Sarah Davies. Aged 12, he won a scholarship to attend Gowerton School, but he left after 15 months in order to enter work. At age 14, he became a steel worker like his father. In 1907 he attended his first union meeting at a local pub and joined both the General Labourers' Union and Independent Labour Party. beginning a lifetime association with the labour movement.

Together with a friend he emigrated to Christchurch, New Zealand, in 1910. He said many years later that the working conditions were hard for contemporary workers to believe and frequently said that if there was one "black spot" on the history of Great Britain it would be the working conditions of the nineteenth century.

His first job upon arrival was at the New Zealand Railways Department shoveling coal. Shortly afterwards he entered the employment of the local drainage board digging ditches. He was then taken on by the Government Life Insurance Office for a three-month probationary period as an insurance officer before being offered a position with the Christchurch Tramway Board in 1911 as a conductor on the Sumner line. He then joined the Tramway Workers' Union. He was involved in a multitude of clubs and community groups including the Cambrian Society, the board of governors of the University of Canterbury, the Adult Cerebral Palsy Society (of which he was a life member and patron) and the Victory Park Board.

He also served as a member of the Christchurch Transport Board from 1937 to 1951 (including ten years as chairman) and was also a member of the Lyttelton Harbour Board for several terms. In the 1960 Queen's Birthday Honours, he was appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George, for services to education and local government. Manning was appointed a Knight Bachelor in the 1967 Queen's Birthday Honours, for public services, especially to education and local government.

National politics Manning stood for the Labour Party in the 1943 election in the Christchurch North electorate, but lost against Sidney Holland. He was also set to stand there in the cancelled 1941 general election. He stood as a candidate for the Labour nomination for the 1947 Avon by-election, but lost to John Mathison. He then contested the St Albans electorate in the 1949 election, but was unsuccessful against Jack Watts.

Later life and death For his contributions to adult education, the University of Canterbury awarded him an honorary doctorate (LLD) in 1972.

From 1973, onwards Manning was mostly restricted to a private hospital as a result of failing health. He died in Christchurch on 29 December 1976, survived by his wife and their son Penrhy. His wife died in 1998.