LEADLEY, GEORGE WILLIAM (1856-1933), who was born in Yorkshire, came to New Zealand in 1863 by the Lancashire Witch. His father, C. R. Leadley, was one of the early settlers of Courtenay, Canterbury. In 1877 he bought land at Ashburton, which he sold to the Government as the Valverde estate in 1911 and moved to Eglin.

In public life Leadley served as chairman of the Wakanui road board and school committee and of the Ashburton Agricultural and Pastoral association, and as a member of the Ashburton county council, and of the licensing committee. He took a prominent part in establishing the Fairfield freezing works and the Ashburton Cooperative Dairy Co. In 1901 he formed at Ashburton the first South Island branch of the New Zealand Farmers' Union, of which he became local and Dominion president.

Leadley was for many years a prominent local preacher in the Methodist Church, and was elected president of the New Zealand local preachers' association. He married in 1881, Elizabeth, daughter of William Paterson, of Prebbleton, and in 1901, Elizabeth, daughter of William Fleming, of Ashburton. Leadley died on 15 Nov 1933.

Who's Who N.Z., 1924, 1932; Ashburton Guardian, 16 Nov 1933.

Reference: Volume 1, page 262

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