McCARDLE, WILLIAM WILSON (1844-1922) was born in Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland, educated at the local grammar school, and in 1862 came to New Zealand in the Chariot of Fame. After working on an Ashburton sheep station, he was employed by a nurseryman in Christchurch, and for six years he was engaged in his own nursery in Dunedin (1869-75). He was in business in Masterton till 1884, when he moved to the Pahiatua district to found the Pahiatua settlement. He was a member of the first Masterton borough council, of the Masterton trust lands trust and parks trust and of the school committee. An advocate of the deferred payment system of land tenure, he was a member of the Wellington waste lands board and of the land commission of 1905. He had a seat on the Wairarapa north county council, was the first chairman of the Pahiatua road board, and a member of the Wellington education board. In 1900 he went to live in Kawhia. From 1907-14 he was a member of the Legislative Council. Later he lived at Kawhia, and was a member of the Auckland land board. He died on 4 Jan 1922. McCardle married (1866), Janet Catherine, daughter of Captain James Martin, of the ship Margaret.

Who's Who N.Z., 1908; Cycl. NZ, i (p); NZ. Herald, 21 Mar 1905; The Dominion, 7 Jan 1922. Portrait: Parliament House.

Reference: Volume 2, page 5

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