REECE, WILLIAM (1856-1930) was born in Christchurch and attended the Christchurch Boys' High School. Returning in 1879 from England, where he had completed his education, he entered his father's firm, Edward Reece and Sons, ironmongery and hardware merchants. In 1880 he married Eva, daughter of Thomas Raine. Reece was a captain in the Canterbury Rifles (1888-90); and served in public life as president of the Chamber of Commerce (1890), president of the Agricultural and Pastoral Association (1898), mayor of Christchurch in the Jubilee year (1900), chairman of the Tramway Board (1903-07), commissioner of the New Zealand Exhibition (1906-07), and a member of the Prisons Board (1911-23). He was also chairman of directors of the Westport-Stockton Coal Co. and the Christchurch Gas Co., and a director of the Bank of New Zealand and of the New Zealand Shipping Co. He died on 17 Jul 1930.

Cycl. N.Z., iii; Who's Who N.Z., 1908, 1924.

Reference: Volume 2, page 108

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