As if that were not bad enough, in 1887 he was convicted of forging a promissory note and sentenced to three years jail. He served two years and was released, returning to Masterton. However, misfortune continued to dog him and in 1899, again under financial pressure, he hanged himself.
Two other of Masterton's early mayors are also forgotten as far as streets go. Alfred Bish, our fifth mayor, was a jeweller. His crime seems to have been deserting Masterton for Carterton, where he also served on the Carterton Borough Council. Philip Holling's case is harder to understand. A London-born solicitor he served two terms as Masterton mayor before moving to Blenheim to become a magistrate, then later returning to the law and writing a respected book on commercial law.
Masterton's first female councillor is often suggested as a worthy recipient of a street name.
Anne Isabella Emma Fletcher was born in Canada, the daughter of Joseph Phelps, a clergyman, and his wife Fanny Robinson.
She joined the Preliminary Training School at the London Hospital on January 28, 1891, aged 22. In 1893, having passed her training she was appointed nurse until she resigned in 1895. She later worked in the slums of London and was in charge of district nursing in Hampshire. She worked for the Red Cross in the Boer War where she met her husband, the Australian-born veterinarian Major Stanley Fletcher. They married in 1903.
During World War I she worked as a nurse in Egypt, and then in the welfare section of the Ministry of Food. She was in charge of health instruction and feeding thousands of young woman.
Annie Fletcher and her husband Stanley appear to have arrived in Masterton in the early 1920s and continued to live here until about 1950, Stanley practising as a veterinarian. When Annie Fletcher stood for a seat on the Masterton Borough Council in April 1927 she said she believed women should take their part in the public life of the community which is why she agreed to stand when asked.
She said if elected she would concern herself with the health of the community, good drainage, good water, good milk, open spaces, healthy literature in the library and prudent administration of financial matters.
Annie Fletcher served just one two-year term and did not seek re-election in 1929. Her last act in council was to seek the removal of the men's urinal outside the Masterton Post Office.
Both Annie and Stanley Fletcher continued to live in Masterton until about 1950 when they retired to the Lower Hutt area. Annie Fletcher died in 1966, aged 97.
Another female whose name has been mentioned in connection with a street name is Nancy Williams, a women's golf championship winner and a member of the Williams family that donated a lot of land in Lansdowne to the council.
Among recent Maori women, the role played by Kuini Te Tau is assisting with the formation of the Maori Welfare League, as well as much other welfare work, has also not been recognised in a street name.
Other women put up for consideration have included educators Nina Barrer and Olive Rose Sutherland and long-serving librarian Violet Watson.
There is a list of suggested future names on the council website, including old politicians like Sir Walter Buchanan, early settlers like George Woodroffe and William Adams, as well as more modern figures like golfer Bob Charles, rugby player and administrator Sir Brian Lochore, cricketer Richard Collinge and mathematician Warren Wong. There are few women in the suggestions.
There is also a short list of potential Maori names. Perhaps the most interesting of these is that of Retimana Te Korou, whose role in the establishment of Masterton is well recognised in other areas, including in the name of a small reserve in Lansdowne. It was Te Korou who Joseph Masters and the Small Farms Association sought out when looking for land for their proposed settlement and it was through his good offices the Government was able to purchase the blocks that led to the establishment of Masterton.
Perhaps it is time a street was named after him.
