William Guyton

William Guyton the younger JP (1816–84) was the second Mayor of Wellington, New Zealand in 1843. A position he obtained on the death of George Hunter and held until the Borough was abolished by the British Government.

Guyton was born in Liverpool in 1816. He sailed to New Zealand on the Ridgway owned vessel the Coromandel which left from London on 10 December 1839 and arrived in Port Nicholson on 29 August 1840. Although not confirmed, Guyton appears to have returned to Middlesex and Lancashire, England around or after 1844, and either returned via New Zealand or went directly to Australia in 1854.

He married Sophia (born 5 October 1816) on 26 July 1847 in Cheshire, England. They had five children, two of whom; Joseph Hope (1850 - Middlesex), and Rebecca Crane (1853 - Lancashire) were born in England and the remaining three; Florence Monmouth (born at sea in 1854), Marion Constance (1855), and Jessie Crane (1857) were born in Sydney, Australia where they had moved in 1854. On 17 December 1857 Guyton and his family left Sydney on the Viemera for London. They had returned to England and lived in 9 Alexandra Road, Heigham, Norwich, Norfolk. Guyton died in 1884.

Guyton was in partnership with John, Joseph, and Thomas Ridgway; and George Butler Earp in Wellington. The partnership was called Ridgways, Guyton, and Earp and was formed in Liverpool in 1839. They were shipping owners and agents, land agents, and merchants. Guyton had arrived in Wellington on 29 August 1840 with Isaac Ridgway and Earp. After setting up business, Guyton sailed from Wellington to Wanganui on the Jewess on 9 December 1840 and returned to Wellington on the Jane on 30 January 1841. The purpose of his journey appears to have been selecting sections for sale. A number of these sections, owned by the partnership, were sold in 1859 well after the partnership had ended. The partnership was dissolved on 27 July 1844. A new partnership was formed called Ridgeways, Hickson, and Co. Guyton was not a member.

While the original partnership was extant, Guyton, in conjunction with his other business partners, constructed one of Wellington's earliest wharves on Lambton Quay.

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