Alfred Kidd

Alfred Kidd
18th Mayor of Auckland City
In office 1901–1903
Preceded by	Logan Campbell
Succeeded by	Edwin Mitchelson
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for City of Auckland
In office 1902–1905
Preceded by	George Fowlds
Succeeded by	constituency abolished
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Auckland Central
In office 1905 – 1908
Preceded by	new constituency
Succeeded by	Albert Glover
Personal details
Born	1851 Hounslow, Middlesex, England
Died	24 August 1917 Auckland, New Zealand
Political party	Liberal
Spouse(s)	Christine Whisker (m.1871) Ethel Anne Bridgeman (m.1907)

Alfred Kidd (1851 – 24 August 1917) was a New Zealand politician of the Liberal Party. He was the 18th Mayor of Auckland.

Born at Hounslow, Middlesex, England, Alfred Kidd had arrived in New Zealand in 1865 on the ship Ballarat, at fourteen years old, and worked in Mangere on farms for three years. On the opening of the Thames Goldfields, he moved there and "has seen it develop from a canvas town—there being only one wooden house then (Sheehan's)—to its present proportions." He was one of the first arrivals and he began to prospect immediately. For seven years he worked in most of the principal mines and before leaving he was an amalgamator at the Kuranui Battery. He left to take the position of steward and providore for the steamers of the Waikato Steam Navigation Company. He did this for three years and got married to Christine Whisker. With the opening of the railways taking the passenger traffic from the river, Kidd came to Auckland and entered into the hotel keeping business. On his arrival he took over the licence of the old Provincial Hotel in Prince’s Street and the Anchor Hotel. He held the license for the Commercial Hotel, (the oldest licensed house, it is claimed, in New Zealand—dating from 1841), now de Bretts, on the corner of High Street and Shortland Streets from 1882 until 1903.

Alfred Kidd started his political career by being a Parnell Borough councillor. On the Auckland City Council, he was chairman of the Streets Committee, a member of the Library Committee and chairman of the Finance Committee. He was acting mayor during the term of David Goldie, as Mr Goldie was often ill. Then Logan Campbell made it a condition of his accepting the mayoralty that Alfred Kidd be acting mayor again. There are several press reports of the time saying it was scandalous that Kidd was not made mayor during the visit of the Duke and Duchess of York as he had effectively done all the work under the previous mayoralty of Goldie, one of the reports pointing out that a factor in the decision was that he would not be able to entertain the Duke at the Northern Club as he was not a member. Kidd was elected mayor in his own right for three years in 1902. He worked tirelessly to create the new electric tramways, new sewerage and roads. He followed very popular movements, promoting workers rights and opening up Maori land, and was then pressured to go into parliament, suggesting that he was the only man who could control, Richard Seddon the Prime Minister.

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