Edgar Rollo (Gar) Neale OBE JP FPANZ FCIS (1889–1960) was born in Nelson, New Zealand on 24 October 1889. He was the Mayor and member of Parliament for Nelson, a strong supporter of the Nelson railway, and a representative cricketer.
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Gar Neale's great grandfather and family migrated to New Zealand from Stroud, Gloucestershire, England in the 1840s, settling in Auckland. In the 1850s Gar's grandfather, John William Neale, moved to Nelson. Gar's father, Henry Neale, was born in Nelson and worked as a carpenter. Henry married Kate Bethwaite.[1] Henry and Kate had two children; Gar (1889) and Gladys (1893).
Neale was educated at Nelson Central School and Nelson College (1903–1905)[2] where he took a general academic course. He became a part-time Master at the College (1920–1932),[3] teaching Commercial Practice. He was Secretary of the Nelson College Old Boys Association (1921–1935), and its President (1938–1947). He also served on the Colleges Board of Governors.
During his stay in Blenheim (1915–1919), Neale completed his accountancy diplomas.
Neale was first employed as a law clerk with Maginnity and Son (later Maginnity, Samuel and Hunter). About 1911 he transferred to Adams and Harley as an accounts clerk. From 1915 to 1919 he was employed by Griffiths Brothers Limited in Blenheim.
Returning to Nelson from Blenheim in 1920, he went into partnership with J E Milner as a public accountant, auditor, and secretary.[4] The firm later became E R Neale and Son, when his son joined him.
Neale married Florence Myrtle Parsonage CBE, the daughter of Henry Bruce Parsonage and Ellen Penn on 26 December 1911.[5] They had four sons.
His sister, Gladys Neale, married Howard Knight.
After Florence died in 1954,[6] Neale married Rata Forbes in 1957.
Neale purchased 241 Bridge Street, Nelson in the late 1920s from the Tilyard family. The two storey wooden home had been built in the early 1900s. The Neale's named the home Green Gables[7] and lived there until about the time his first wife, Florence, died in 1954. In 1957 the house was onsold to Presbytarian Support Services and became a rest home. Neale moved to a new home in Moana Avenue on the Port Hills overlooking Tahuna Beach where he resided until his death.
In 1902 he was reported as participating in the Nelson Athletic and Cycling Club Labour Weekend Central School 100 yard and 220 yard running races.[8] Although not placed he appears to have had an interest in sports from an early age.
He was a sportsman of reasonable skill playing representative cricket (1904–1945) for Nelson and Marlborough, hockey (1915–1926) for Marlborough, Nelson, and the South Island (1923), soccer (1905) for Nelson, and golf (1937) for Nelson. He loved horse racing and was Secretary of the Nelson Trotting Club from 1923 and the Nelson Jockey Club (1923–1949).
Neale represented Nelson in cricket from 1904 while still at college aged 16 years. He first captained Nelson in 1910 when he was only 21 years old.[9] By 1926 he had played 52 matches for Nelson including playing for the Hawke Cup. He continued to represent Nelson until 1945, with a short break (1915–1920) playing representative cricket for Marlborough when he lived in Blenheim. During this period he was noted as "giving powerful help to Marlborough".[10]
He represented Canterbury (1921), the South Island (1922), and the New Zealand Minor Associations (1921) in first class cricket. By 1928 Neale had made over 1,000 runs for his club. His statistics for representative cricket were 73 innings, 3 not outs, 201 highest score, 2,223 total runs, and 31.7 run average.[11] He also achieved his highest score of 201 runs against Wellington during this period. By 1938, having played cricket for 33 seasons, he had scored 45 centuries and eight double centuries. Altogether he had registered 25,000 runs and taken over 1000 wickets. He continued playing until circa 1951.[12] Neale encouraged up and coming new players. An example of this was in 1948 when he, along with Jack Newman and Herb McGirr, after a Newman Shield match against Nelson, encouraged Arthur Cresswell to play for a major centre causing him to become a foundation player for the Central Districts team.[13]
He was also noted for his memory of cricket history and statistics.[14]
Neale assisted on a number of organisations: Nelson Provincial Chamber of Commerce Secretary (1920–1955),[15] Nelson Automobile Association (Secretary 1923–?), Nelson Progress League (1923–?), Municipal Association of New Zealand (President 1947–1948), Cawthorn Institute (Board member representing the Nelson City Council 1943–?,[16] Secretary 1946), National Patriotic Fund (1941–?), and the New Zealand Road Safety Council (1947–?).
In 1930 Neale was appointed as a Justice of the Peace (JP).
In 1932 he, along with Arthur Rutland Edwards of Motueka and George E Manson of Stoke, was appointed to the Nelson Mortgagors' Liabilities Adjustment Commission under the Morgagors' Relief Amendment Act 1931 by the Minister of Justice, Hon J G Cobbe.[17] With a change of Government and legislation all three were reappointed under the Mortgagees and Lessees Rehabilitation Act 1936 by the Attorney-General Hon H G R Mason.[18] The purpose of the commissions was to assist the Supreme Court in the adjustment of mortgages, a relief measure because of the great depression.
In 1942, in his capacity as Mayor of Nelson, he was appointed a District Controller of Civil Defence for Nelson Marlborough under the Emergency Reserve Corp Regulations by the 1st Labour Government's Minister of National Service, Hon Robert Semple.[19]
Neale, his son, and his grandson were all Secretaries of the Nelson Provincial Chamber of Commerce from 1920 to 1981. By 2008 the family had at least four generations of association with the Chamber of Commerce with his great granddaughter, Angela Hunter of Hunter Tourism Consultancy being a member.[20] In recognition of this long association the Chamber made a special presentation to the family.[21]
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| Years | Term | Electorate | Party | |
| 1946–49 | 28th | Nelson | National | |
| 1949–51 | 29th | Nelson | National | |
| 1951–54 | 30th | Nelson | National | |
| 1954–57 | 31st | Nelson | National | |
In 1925 he was elected to the Nelson City Council. He became Deputy Mayor in 1933 and Mayor from 1941 to 1946. He was awarded an OBE in 1946 and the Coronation Medal in 1953 for service to the community.[22][23]
In 1946 he stood as the National Party candidate for Nelson and was elected, replacing legendary Harry Atmore, an independent MP who had held the seat for 30 years.
In his maiden speech on 9 July 1947[24] Neale stated that he had entered Parliament with "a deep sense of responsibility and with some humility". He went on to say "I will try to remember that the other fellow has a right to his own opinion" and quoted from Rudyard Kiplings poem If.
He was a Parliamentary Under Secretary from 1950–1954, but stepped down from this position due a prolonged periods of illness. Neale was apparently so ill that he was unable to campaign during the 1951 election and yet increased his majority. This prompted a telegram from the Sir Thomas Clifton Webb, Attorney-General that stated "apparently it was better to lie in bed than lie on the platform".[25]
For a number of years he was the Chairman of Parliaments Public Accounts Committee.
In 1956 he together with Hon Sir Thomas Lachlan MacDonald, Minister of External Affairs, and the member of Parliament for Ponsonby, Ritchie Macdonald, represented the New Zealand government at General Committee meeting of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association in Jamaica.
| Election | National | Labour | Majority |
| 1946 | 52.10% | 47.90% | 585 |
| 1949 | 54.40% | 45.60% | 1,373 |
| 1951 | 58.80% | 41.20% | 2,831 |
| 1954 | 45.70% | 41.00% | 717 |
He represented the Nelson electorate from 1946 to 1957, when he retired.
Neale was a strong supporter of the Nelson railway line, and extending it to link with the South Island system.[26][27] However this was against National policy, and in 1954 Minister of Railways William Goosman announced the suspension of the Nelson-Glenhope line, and a five-year programme of accelerated road development.
As a result of submissions from Neale, who was supported by the Nelson Progress League, the closure was deferred to allow time for the League to attempt to increase rail use. The League made some progress but insufficient to reach the levels required. The Government announced that the line would therefore be closed.
On 17 September 1955 the Nelson Progress League held a protest rally.[28] Neale, as MP for Nelson, was one of the speakers. Also speaking at the protest were Clarence Skinner, MP for Buller, and Walter Nash, then Leader of the Labour Party. As a protest on 20 September 1955 Neale crossed the floor at Parliament on one occasion and voted with the oppostion.[29]
It may have been through this turbulent time that he forged a friendship with Mabel Howard, a famous Labour MP. Her bibliographer noted that he was one off a few gentlemanly National MPs who were close friends with her.[30]
Neale gave his valedictory speech on 25 October 1957.[31] His obituary later stated that Neale was "noted for his sincerity of address" (in parliament).
He died after a period of illness in Nelson, New Zealand on 25 July 1960. On that same day the Nelson Progressive League was pressing the then Labour government to reinstate the Nelson Railway.[32]
That same day Neale died, the National Party was holding its conference. Members of the party passed a resolution of sympathy and condolence by standing in silence.[33]
| Parliament of New Zealand | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Harry Atmore |
Member of Parliament for Nelson 1946–1957 |
Succeeded by Stanley Whitehead |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by George Page |
Mayor of Nelson 1941–1946 |
Succeeded by Joseph Harley |