Frank J. Ney

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Frank J. Ney (May 12, 1918 – November 24, 1992) was the mayor of Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada. He worked as a mayor for twenty-one years in Nanaimo. Ney also served a term as a member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. He was known for starting the bathtub races across Georgia Strait from Nanaimo to Vancouver, and also for dressing up like a pirate. He was father to eleven children with his first wife, Jocelyn (Floyer).

Born in London, England, Ney served in the RAF and RCAF as a pilot during World War II. He was a resident of Nanaimo from 1946 until his death in 1992. He was Mayor of Nanaimo from 1968 to 1984, and 1987 to 1990, and a Social Credit Member of the Legislative Assembly for Nanaimo from 1969 to 1972.

Ney was also a member of the Society of Notaries Public of British Columbia from January, 1956, until his death in November 1992, and had a very busy notarial practice in Nanaimo. He was President of the Society from 1968 - 1969.

Ney formed the Great National Land and Investment Corporation in 1964, was involved in real estate (as President of Nanaimo Realty Ltd.), and promoted the economic development of Vancouver Island. He is perhaps most famous for the purchase and subdividion of Protection Island in 1960 and selling it under the guise of a pirate-promotion theme.

He participated in many local and provincial associations, and was Chairman of the Nanaimo Centennial Committee (1967), responsible for organizing the inaugural Great Bathtub Race between Nanaimo and Vancouver. He was the first Chairman and Admiral of the Loyal Nanaimo Bathtub Society, established in 1968 to continue the bathtub race as an annual event. Ney was made Freeman of the City of Nanaimo in 1984. He died on November 24, 1992.

A play about Ney (Being Frank, by writer Kim Blank) will be performed in Nanaimo in April 2007, at the Port Theatre (produced by TheatreOne).