William Hutchison

William Hutchison (1820 – 3 December 1905) was a New Zealand politician and journalist. Hutchison and his son George were both Members of Parliament.

Early life Hutchison was born in Banffshire, Scotland, and trained as a journalist. On 12 August 1846, he married Helen Hutchison (née Aicheson) of Inverness. They emigrated to New Zealand in 1866 for him to take up employment with The Southern Cross.

Life in New Zealand

A journalist, Hutchison worked for The Southern Cross in Auckland for some months, then bought the Wanganui Chronicle and started the Tribune in Wellington. As Mayor of Wellington, a central issue was whether the Wellington Waterfront should be controlled by the city council or a separate entity.

He stood in the 1875 election in the electorate and was decisively beaten by the incumbent, William Fitzherbert. He represented the City of Wellington in Parliament from to 1881, then Wellington South from to 1884, when he was defeated. He moved to Dunedin in 1884. to 1896, when he was defeated. Following the death of Henry Fish, he contested the resulting . Alexander Sligo, Hugh Gourley and Hutchison received 5045, 4065 and 2030 votes, respectively. He was a supporter of the Liberal Party.

His son George Hutchison represented Taranaki electorates in Parliament. For six years (from 1890 to 1896) they were in Parliament at the same time,

Another son, Sir James Hutchison, was editor of the Otago Daily Times. He was survived by four sons and four daughters.

Hutchison Road in Wellington was named in his honour.