William Wilson McCardle

The Honourable William Wilson McCardle
William Wilson McCardle, ca 1890s
Member of the New Zealand Legislative Council
In office 22 January 1907 – 21 January 1914
Personal details
Born	(1844-04-01)1 April 1844
Died	4 January 1922(1922-01-04) (aged 77)
Spouse(s)	Janet Catherine McCardle (née Martin)

William Wilson McCardle JP (1 April 1844 – 4 January 1922) was a member of the New Zealand Legislative Council. Born in Scotland, he came to New Zealand as a young man and lived in a variety of places. He was a nurseryman and advocated for land reform. He established the town of Pahiatua and it was in the Wairarapa district that his local government involvement was most influential. He stood in a number of general elections for Parliament, but was never successful. A committed liberal politician, he was appointed to the Legislative Council by the first Ward Ministry in 1907 and served for one term until 1914.

He was born in Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland, in 1844, and was educated at the local grammar school. He lost his father early, and due to other misfortunes, he decided to emigrate to New Zealand. He arrived in Lyttelton on 28 January 1863 on the Chariot of Fame, with his occupation given as shepherd on the shipping list. He found employment as a shepherd on a station at Ashburton, where he stayed for two years. He was then for two years employed by John Greenaway, a Christchurch nurseryman, from whom he acquired gardening and orcharding skills.

In 1866 at Dunedin, McCardle married Janet Catherine Martin, daughter of Captain James Martin, master of the unfortunate coaster Margaret—a vessel built at Kaiwarra in the Wellington Harbour in 1845, and so completely lost on the way to Lyttelton in the following year that no trace of either ship or cargo was ever seen again. McCardle moved to Dunedin in 1869 and founded his own nursery, and some six years later sold out and established himself in the same line in Masterton. McCardle's apple orchard, stocked with its hundred fruit-bearing varieties, was soon the talk of the Wairarapa.

In 1881, he founded Pahiatua. There are conflicting accounts how the township came to its name, though. According to The Cyclopedia of New Zealand, it is Māori and means "The Home of the Gods". The Cyclopedia was self-published (many articles were written by the subjects themselves) and it is thus likely that McCardle wrote this explanation himself, but it is also possible that he portrayed himself favourably and the information is not necessarily correct. A different version is that McCardle named the township after his friend, the Māori chief Koneke Pahiatua. A third version is that another translation from Māori means "god's resting place", with the accompanying explanation that a chief fleeing from his enemies was led by his war god to this hill to seek refuge.