Fowlds, George, Sir, 1860-1934

Biographical Note

Sir George Fowlds (1860-1934) was a Scot who spent some years in South Africa before moving to Auckland. He soon became a well-to-do clothier. His radical ideas encouraged him to stand for Parliament and he was elected in 1899. In 1906 he was appointed Minister of Education and Public Health in the Ward Ministry with George Hogben as Inspector-General of Schools. In 1911 Fowlds resigned from the Ministry and became associated with the United Labour Party. He was not re-elected to Parliament, and devoted his life to public affairs- - patriotic organisations and the Temperance movement, and later as President of Auckland University College and other bodies. He was a leader of the Congregational Union and of the Freemasons .He was well known for his radical views on social questions as a single tax and was also an advocate of proportional representation, town planning, secular education and other reforms.