Frances Ward

Frances Mary Brown (née Ward) (22 January 1912 – 29 June 1987) was the Foundation Mayoress of Porirua City for 21 years.

Frances Mary Brown (née Ward) has a rather illustrious lineage. Frances is the youngest daughter of New Zealand astronomer Joseph Thomas Ward, who discovered double stars named in his honour ("Ward doubles") and his wife Ada Evelyn Wright(daughter of Capt. Sydney E.L Wright Esq of Wellington; Paymaster of the Royal Navy). Ada Wright was the x5 great-granddaughter of the Privateer Fortunatus Wright of Liverpool whose son John Wright married Louisa Felicite Maria Liardet (1799-1875), and his sister Philippa (aka Philadelphia Wright) (born 1735) married Charles Evelyn (great-grandson of John Evelyn). She also has several renowned relatives such as Winston Churchill, the British Prime Minister during World War II.

Frances Brown was Mayoress at the opening of the Royal New Zealand Police College on 1 April 1981 in Porirua, along with her husband Whitford Brown Mayor of Porirua and HRH Prince Charles the Prince of Wales, who officially opened the college for use.

Frances Mary Brown, also known as "Francie", was the wife of Whitford Brown, the Foundation Mayor of Porirua City, Wellington, New Zealand for 21 years (1962–1983), the first three years of which Porirua was a borough and inaugurated as a city in 1965 by Sir Bernard Furgusson, who was Governor-General of New Zealand at the time.

"Frances Brown Avenue " in Porirua, which is off Whitford Brown Avenue, is named after her.

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