Ken Wilford
20-09-2007, 7:42 PM
I am looking for any of my distant relatives who were descended from Thomas Mason Wilford he was New Zealand High Commissioner in 1936.Lawyer, politician, sportsman, diplomat. Member of Parliament for Hutt 1902-1929; Mayor of Wellington 1909-1911; leader of the Liberal Party 1919-1929; High Commissioner in London 1930-1934. Chief Savage of Wellington Savage Club in the years around 1909. In 1892, married Georgia Constance Mclean, daughter of Sir George McLean). Father of actress Isabel Penrose-Fitzgerald (nee Wilford; 1896-1979).
Thomas Mason Wilford was born in Lower Hutt, New Zealand, on 20 June 1870 to John George Frederick Wilford, a surgeon, and his wife, Elizabeth Catherine Mason, daughter of Thomas Mason, MHR. He was educated at Wellington College and Christ's College, Christchurch, before joining the legal firm of A. & C. Brandon. He showed such promise that he passed his final examinations by the age of 18 although he could not be admitted to the Bar until he was 21. On 17 February 1892, at Dunedin, he married Georgia Constance McLean, daughter of Sir George McLean, MLC; they were to have one son and one daughter. He then practised for three years with W. T. L. Travers in Wellington before setting up on his own account. He was later joined by Phineas Levi in the firm Wilford and Levi (subsequently Wilford, Levi and Jackson)
Thomas Mason Wilford was born in Lower Hutt, New Zealand, on 20 June 1870 to John George Frederick Wilford, a surgeon, and his wife, Elizabeth Catherine Mason, daughter of Thomas Mason, MHR. He was educated at Wellington College and Christ's College, Christchurch, before joining the legal firm of A. & C. Brandon. He showed such promise that he passed his final examinations by the age of 18 although he could not be admitted to the Bar until he was 21. On 17 February 1892, at Dunedin, he married Georgia Constance McLean, daughter of Sir George McLean, MLC; they were to have one son and one daughter. He then practised for three years with W. T. L. Travers in Wellington before setting up on his own account. He was later joined by Phineas Levi in the firm Wilford and Levi (subsequently Wilford, Levi and Jackson)