William Trethewey

William Trethewey
William Trethewey in 1935
Born	8 September 1892 Christchurch
Died	4 May 1956(1956-05-04) (aged 63) Christchurch
Nationality	New Zealand
Education	Frederick Gurnsey (wood carving) Joseph Ellis (life modelling)
Known for	Monumental masonry
Notable work	Statue of Margaret Cruickshank Cook Statue Citizens' War Memorial

William Thomas Trethewey (8 September 1892 – 4 May 1956) was a sculptor and monumental mason from Christchurch, New Zealand. His best known work is the Citizens' War Memorial in Cathedral Square, Christchurch, where the city's annual Anzac Day service is held.

Trethewey was born in 1892 in Christchurch. His parents, Mary Wallace and the carpenter Jabez Trethewey, were from Cornwall. They lived in Linwood. He attended Christchurch East School and left school at the age of 13. He trained as a wood carver and studied under Frederick Gurnsey at the Canterbury College School of Art.

Trethewey married Ivy Louisa Harper (1893–1975) on 24 July 1914, and they had four children together. He cited family and study commitments to avoid military service in World War I. His daughter Pauline was a model for the figure of Peace in his best known work, the Citizens' War Memorial.

After their marriage, the couple moved to Wellington, where he attended life-modelling classes under Joseph Ellis. It is said though, that Trethewey was mostly self-educated. He obtained knowledge of anatomy by observing the different muscles while he shaved, and read about the sculpting work of Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Michelangelo and Auguste Rodin.

Inspired by the European sculptors that he read about, Trethewey decided to switch from wood carving to become a monumental mason. With the end of World War I, the need for memorials arose. Trethewey produced 'The Bomb Thrower', in the hope that a local community would buy it as a memorial. It was a highly realistic sculpture of an Anzac soldier about to throw a grenade, with a strained face and a ripped shirt. It did not meet the public's expectation, as most people had an idealistic view of the war. He submitted the sculpture to the annual Canterbury Society of Arts exhibition in 1919 and the piece aroused great interest. The society purchased the sculpture, but lost it.