Robertson Stewart

Sir Robertson Huntly Stewart (21 September 1913 – 13 August 2007) was a New Zealand industrialist and exporter. He is credited with starting to manufacture plastic goods in the country.

Early life Stewart was born in Christchurch in 1913. His father, Robertson McGregor Stewart, was an accountant. His mother was Ivy Emily Stewart (née Wooles). His parents separated when he was six, and Stewart and his younger brother Max remained with their mother. They lived in Sydenham and then Linwood. He attended Linwood North Primary School, Christchurch West High School, and one term at Christchurch Boys' High School until age 13, when scarlet fever caused him to leave school. In 1935, Urlwin sent him to England to learn about plastics. He imported a moulding machine to New Zealand and was the first to manufacture the material in the country.

He started to work for Plastic & Die Casting Ltd in 1947, By 1957, he had raised enough money to buy the company, which he renamed PDL. The company was listed on the New Zealand Stock Exchange in 1971 and at its height, employed 2,200 staff with an annual turnover of NZ$350 million.

Stewart was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1970 New Year Honours and a Knight Bachelor in the 1979 New Year Honours, for services to manufacturing and the community. He was a Christchurch City Councillor from 1969 to 1972. In 1995, he was inducted into the New Zealand Business Hall of Fame. The replacement, known as the Stewart Fountain, was built in 1998 at a cost of NZ$700,000, with a NZ$200,000 contribution by Stewart and decorated with hundreds of tiles painted by Christchurch schoolchildren. The fountain developed into a favourite place for young people. Demolition of the fountain began on 13 August 2007 and 13 young people were arrested in a protest over the demolition; Sir Robertson Stewart had died that morning. The removal of the fountain was supported by local business owners, who had long complained about the young people being bad for their businesses.

Christchurch City Council formally named the reserve Stewart Plaza in 2008. Stewart's bequest part-funded the replacement sculpture, "Flour Power", on the condition that the installation be permanent, and that the land be known as Stewart Plaza. Elizabeth "Lee" Stewart (born 1943) Peter Maxwell Stewart (born 1945) married since 1968 to New Zealand Fashion Week founder Dame Pieter Stewart (who was made a Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2012 Birthday Honours). Peter was jailed in 2008 for three and a half years on historic child sex charges, but had one rape charge against him dismissed in the High Court at Christchurch after serving jail time for his other offences. He was paroled after 14 months.

In 1970, he married his secretary, Melbourne-born Ellen Adrienne Cansdale (who was made a Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2015 New Year Honours). There are two children from this second marriage:

Mark James Stewart Todd Huntly Stewart

Stewart died in Christchurch on 13 August 2007. He was survived by his second wife, Adrienne, and five children.