Michael Reardon (activist)

Michael Reardon.

Michael John Reardon (11 April 1876 – 24 August 1945) was a New Zealand political activist.

Biography

Early life

Reardon was born at Waikouaiti in 1876 and was educated there.[1] He became a blacksmith and later a freezing worker.[2]

Union involvement

He moved to Wellington in 1906 and was appointed Secretary of the General Labourers' Union in 1906, a position he held until 1918. He was president of the Wellington Trades and Labour Council from 1912 to 1913 and again from 1915 to 1916. During World War I he supported conscription, unlike most labour activists. He helped form the Wellington branch of the Workers' Educational Association (WEA) in 1915 and was a key figure in the Self-determination for Ireland League 1920–1921. Later, Reardon was Secretary Wellington Retail Fruit Trade Association.[1]

He was appointed information officer for New Zealand at the 1924 British Empire Exhibition. He was deputy-chairman of the Repatriation Board in 1919-1921. In 1936 he was appointed Conciliation Commissioner a position he held until 1943.[2]

Political activity

In 1902 he stood as a Liberal-Labour candidate in Rangitikei and in 1911 as the Labour candidate for Hutt.[3][4] In 1918 he sought the Labour nomination for the Wellington Central by-election, but lost to Peter Fraser.[5] Reardon was a Labour Party candidate in several Wellington municipal elections in 1907, 1909, 1910, 1911, 1913 and 1935. While polling respectably he never won a seat.

Later life and death

He died in Wellington on 24 August 1945, predeceased by his wife and son.[2]

Notes

  1. 1 2 Gustafson 1980, p. 165.
  2. 1 2 3 "Obituary". The Evening Post. CXL (48). 25 August 1945. p. 8. Retrieved 21 November 2013.
  3. ↑ The General Election, 1902. National Library. 1903. p. 1. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  4. ↑ "The General Election, 1911". National Library. 1912. pp. 1–14. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
  5. ↑ "Wellington Central by-election". The Press. LIV (16317). 14 September 1918. p. 9. Retrieved 1 July 2018.

References

  • Gustafson, Barry (1980). Labour's path to political independence: The Origins and Establishment of the New Zealand Labour Party, 1900–19. Auckland, New Zealand: Auckland University Press. ISBN 0-19-647986-X.
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