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Sir George Fowlds a prominent
Auckland businessman, university college president and former
Minister of Education travelled to the United States in 1920
where he attended a number of Rotary clubs. Impressed by the
organisation, he wrote to the International Association of
Rotary Clubs for information. On his return to New Zealand in
December, and having been requested to forward a survey to
Chicago, he set about interesting others in the formation of a
club. The Association vice-president Crawford McCullough of
Canada arranged for two commissioners to travel to Australia and
New Zealand to establish clubs.
Special Commissioners,
Canadians Jim Davidson of the Calgary Club and Lieut. Col. J
Layton Ralston of the Halifax Club were in Auckland on their way
to charter the Melbourne and Sydney clubs in Australia and on 4
April 1921 met with a number of prominent citizens for luncheon
at the Pacific Club organised by Sir George Fowlds. Fowlds,
Charles Rhodes, William B. Leyland, Robert Laidlaw, H T Merritt
and Professor J. Segar formed an investigating committee at that
meeting. While Davidson and Ralston were in Australia, Fowlds
forwarded a report to the International Association of Rotary
Clubs, a series of cables were exchanged and charters, signed by
Association President Estes Snedecor and General Secretary
Chesley Perry, for clubs and both dated 1 May 1921 were prepared
and sent to the Commissioners. At some point a decision was
made to form the Wellington
club first as its charter was given the number of 950
and Auckland 951.
On their return to New
Zealand, Ralston sailed for Wellington about May 17 and on
arrival met with Charles C. Odlin, and others, including A.F.
Roberts, D.A. Ewen, E. W. Hunt, H. Amos, M. Myers, J. B. McEwen,
W.H. Morton and W. D. Stewart, to whom he had a letters of
introduction. Odlin had been a guest of the Vancouver and
Seattle clubs and spoke glowingly of his impressions of
Rotary. On May 27 about a dozen met for lunch at the Midland
Hotel and an organising committee of Ewen, Odlin, Stewart, Hunt,
Lawrence and Longuet formed the organising committee.
The inaugural luncheon of the
33 charter members of the Wellington club was held at the YMCA
on June 7 with A. F. Roberts, president, Charles Odlin, vice
–president, J. W. Carr, secretary, E. W. Hunt, treasurer and C.
A. Lawrence, sergeant at arms.. .
Davidson sailed for Auckland
nine days later, where he held two meetings the day after his
arrival. Invitations to a luncheon at the Pacific Club on 2
June, 1921 were sent to a number of citizens and as many as
possible were interviewed beforehand. That meeting formed an
organising committee of Fowlds, Rhodes, Laidlaw, Macky,
Leyland, Segar H P Richmond, V. J. Larner and H. Horton..
While Davidson took a brief holiday at the thermal resort town
of Rotorua, prospective members were being interviewed and on
his return to Auckland for the first meeting on June 13, held at
Prior’s restaurant, in the Strand Arcade, there were 52 charter
members with Sir George Fowlds as president, Charles Rhodes,
vice president, Harry T Merritt, secretary and V.J. Larner,
treasurer.
At the time, both new Zealand
clubs were un-districted and Sir George Fowlds was
designated Special Commissioner for New Zealand, a position he
was to fill with great success.
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