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Sir Charles LukeCStJ JP
13th Mayor of Wellington
In office 20 December 1894 – 19 December 1895
Preceded by	Alfred Brandon
Succeeded by	George Fisher
Member of the New Zealand Legislative Council
In office 22 January 1907 – 21 January 1914
Appointed by	Sir Joseph Ward
Personal details
Born	Charles Manley Luke (1857-02-04)4 February 1857 St Just in Penwith, Cornwall, England
Died	19 April 1941(1941-04-19) (aged 84) Wellington, New Zealand
Political party	Liberal
Spouse	Annie Pinny ​ ​(m. 1880; died 1928)​
Relations	John Luke (brother) Lawrence Birks (son-in-law)
Children	6

Sir Charles Manley Luke CStJ JP (4 February 1857 – 19 April 1941) was a New Zealand politician and company director. He served as mayor of Wellington in 1895. His brother, Sir John Luke, was later mayor of Wellington from 1913 to 1921.

Biography

Early life and career

Born at St Just in Penwith, near Penzance, Cornwall, England, Luke came to New Zealand with his parents in July 1874. He married and had four sons and two daughters. His elder daughter Edith Mabel Luke (10 April 1880 – 21 July 1923) married electrical engineer Lawrence Birks on 29 April 1909. They had four children.

He was a director of S Luke and Sons Limited up until his retirement in 1913. Luke and Sons were ship builders and engineers. The company erected a number of hydraulic cranes on the Wellington wharfs. The company was located on the Te Aro foreshore and built the steamships Matai and Weka. It also built equipment for the Cape Palliser lighthouse as well as other lighthouses around the country. S Luke and Sons was merged into Jas J Niven & Co. He was chairman of the Wellington Industrial Association from 1888 to 1889. Luke was one of those responsible for establishing the Associated Chambers of Commerce.

Luke was a member of the YMCA for over 40 years and actively involved in church affairs. Luke was three times President of the Primitive Methodist Church, Vice President of the United Methodist Church, and New Zealand representative at the 1905 Scarborugh Methodist Conference. He was a foundation member of the New Zealand Alliance (for the Abolition of the Liquor Traffic).

Political career

From 1885 he was a trustee of the Wellington Hospital for 50 years including chairman of its board for 14 years. In 1894 he was elected Mayor of Wellington. At the following election he was defeated by George Fisher. He was also president of the Wellington Chamber of Commerce for six years, a member of the Wellington Education Board, the Technical School Board and Wellington College Board of Governors. From 1894 to 1895 he was a member of the Wellington Harbour Board.

He served on numerous committees. In 1901 the Royal New Zealand Federation Commission was set up to consider Federation between New Zealand and the Australia states. Luke was appointed as a member and toured Australia to determine if the idea was worthwhile. After three months investigation and deliberation the commission dismissed the idea. During the First World War he was elected a member of the Patriotic Association, vice president of the War Relief Association, and a member of the War Funds Council for 20 years holding the role of chairman of the executive for a time. He was also on the board of Flock House which provided assistance to widows and dependents of sailors of the British Navy and Merchant Marine who had lost their lives during the war.

At the 1899 general election he stood unsuccessfully in the Wellington electorate as a Liberal Party candidate. At the 1902 general election he stood for the seat of Newtown, but was again unsuccessful.

He served one term on the New Zealand Legislative Council (22 January 1907 – 21 January 1914).

Later life and death

In 1935, Luke was awarded the King George V Silver Jubilee Medal. In the 1939 New Year Honours, he was appointed a Knight Bachelor, for public services. In 1940 he was appointed a Commander of the Order of St John.

Luke died at the residence of his younger daughter, Grace Winifred Cunningham (1886–1976), in Kelburn on 19 April 1941, and his ashes were buried in Karori Cemetery.

Notes

1. Taylor, Paul. "Charles Manley Luke 1857-1941 of New Zealand". Taylor history. Archived from the original on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 24 January 2012.
2. "Sir Charles Luke". The Evening Post. Vol. CXXXI, no. 92. 19 April 1941. p. 11.
3. "Obituary - Sir Charles Luke". Auckland Star. Vol. LXXII, no. 92. 19 April 1941. p. 5.
4. "Mayoralty Elections - Mr Luke Returned". New Zealand Mail. No. 1188. 7 December 1894. p. 36.
5. "Mayoralty Elections". The Evening Post. Vol. L, no. L. 28 November 1895. p. 2. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
6. Johnson 1996, p. 476.
7. Cyclopedia Company Limited (1897). "Mr. Charles Manley Luke". The Cyclopedia of New Zealand : Wellington Provincial District. Wellington: The Cyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 24 January 2012.
8. "1899 New Zealand general election". 1900. p. 2. Retrieved 15 May 2013.
9. "The General Election, 1902". National Library. 1903. p. 2. Retrieved 8 February 2012.
10. Scholefield, Guy (1950) . New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1949 (3rd ed.). Wellington: Govt. Printer. p. 80.
11. "Official jubilee medals". The Evening Post. 6 May 1935. p. 4. Retrieved 15 November 2013.
12. "No. 34585". The London Gazette (Supplement). 2 January 1939. p. 2.
13. "No. 34878". The London Gazette. 21 June 1940. p. 3778.
14. "Deaths". The Evening Post. 19 April 1941. p. 1. Retrieved 15 November 2013.
15. "Cemeteries details (cremation)". Wellington City Council. 12 July 2012. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
16. "Cemeteries details (burial)". Wellington City Council. 12 July 2012. Retrieved 11 November 2014.

References

• Johnson, David (1996). Wellington Harbour. Wellington Maritime Museum Trust. ISBN 0958349800.

v t e Mayors of Wellington
Mayors	elected by councillors George Hunter William Guyton Joe Dransfield Charles Borlase elected at large William Sefton Moorhouse William Hutchison Joe Dransfield George Allen William Hutchison George Fisher Arthur Winton Brown Sam Brown John Duthie Charles Johnston Arthur Winton Brown Francis Bell Alfred Brandon Charles Luke George Fisher Francis Bell John Blair John Aitken Thomas William Hislop Alfred Newman Thomas Wilford David McLaren John Luke Robert Wright Charles Norwood George Troup Thomas Hislop Will Appleton Rob Macalister Frank Kitts Michael Fowler Ian Lawrence Jim Belich Fran Wilde Mark Blumsky Kerry Prendergast Celia Wade-Brown Justin Lester Andy Foster Tory Whanau
Mayoral elections	Annual term 1842 1874 1875 1876† 1877† 1878 1879‡ 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888† 1889† 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898† 1899 1901 1902† 1903† 1904 1905 1906† 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911† 1912 1913 1914 Biennial term 1915 1917† 1919 1921 1923 1925 1927 1929 1931 1933† 1935 Triennial term 1938 1941 1944 1947 1950 1953 1956 1959 1962 1965 1968 1971 1974 1977 1980 1983 1986 1989 1992 1995 1998 2001 2004 2007 2010 2013 2016 2019 2022 2025
Local elections	1986 1989 1992 1995 1998 2001 2004 2007 2010 2013 2016 2019 2022 by-elections
† Elected unopposed ‡ By-election

• 1857 births
• 1941 deaths
• People from St Just in Penwith
• British emigrants to New Zealand
• New Zealand people of Cornish descent
• Wellington Hospital Board members
• Mayors of Wellington
• Wellington Harbour Board members
• Unsuccessful candidates in the 1899 New Zealand general election
• Unsuccessful candidates in the 1902 New Zealand general election
• Members of the New Zealand Legislative Council
• New Zealand Liberal Party MLCs
• New Zealand Knights Bachelor
• Commanders of the Order of St John
• New Zealand temperance activists
• New Zealand justices of the peace
• Burials at Karori Cemetery