George Ruddenklau
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John George Ruddenklau JP |
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|---|---|
| Johann George Rüddenklau | |
Ruddenklau wearing mayoral chains
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| 12th Mayor of Christchurch | |
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In office 21 December 1881 – 19 December 1883 |
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| Preceded by | James Gapes |
| Succeeded by | Charles Hulbert |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 23 May 1829 Niedermeiser, Hesse, Germany |
| Died |
15 December 1891 (aged 62) Addington, Christchurch, New Zealand |
| Profession | Baker |
| Religion | Lutheran |
John George Ruddenklau JP (23 May 1829 – 15 December 1891) was Mayor of Christchurch from December 1881 to December 1883. A baker from Germany, he was later the proprietor of the City Hotel. He was very active with a number of organisations, founded the German Benefit Association, and was the driving force behind the establishment of the German Church.
Johann George Rüddenklau was born in Niedermeiser on 23 May 1829 and baptised two days later. His birth name was later Anglicised by adopting John as his first name, and dropping the diaeresis from his surname. Niedermeiser is today a suburb of Liebenau in the district of Kassel, in Hesse, Germany. His parents were John Ruddenklau and his wife, Annie Gertrude Ruddenklau (née Engelbrecht). The eldest of five children, he had two brothers and two sisters. John George Ruddenklau often signed documents and was referred to as J. G. Ruddenklau, but he was known by his middle name and he used George Ruddenklau in print when he needed to differentiate from his brother John.
Ruddenklau was apprenticed as a baker. He moved to London in 1850 or 1851 where he continued to work in his profession. He was joined in London by his younger brother John Ruddenklau (Johannes Rüddenklau; 30 August 1834 – 16 May 1896), who worked there for some years before returning to Germany. John Ruddenklau, who had also trained as a baker, emigrated to New Zealand in 1856, and arrived in Lyttelton on the Joseph Fletcher in October 1856. He took up farming; first in Rangiora and then in Cust.
In circa 1853, George Ruddenklau married Sarah Ann Workman in London. Their only child, Fanny Gertrude Ruddenklau, was born in 1854 in London. The family left London in 1857 to emigrate to Canterbury in New Zealand, following his brother. Historian George Macdonald has recorded that they arrived by the Bosworth, but the passenger list published by the Lyttelton Times on 23 December 1857 mentions his wife and daughter only.
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