Sir George Fenwick

1 Nov

Born in Sunderland, England, George Fenwick came with his family to Australia as a child and then to Otago in 1856.

He began work at the age of 12 as a printer’s apprentice, the start of a lifelong career in newspapers.

Fenwick gained control of the Otago Daily Times and the Otago Witness in 1877 and co-founded the New Zealand Press Association the following year.

He campaigned throughout his career against social ills as varied as animal cruelty and sweated labour and was a leader and/or promoter of a number of worthy organisations, including the SPCA, Patents’ and Prisoners’ Aid Society, Shipwreck Relief Society, YMCA, Native Bird Protection Society, Hocken Library, Dunedin Diocesan Trust Board and Dunedin Art Gallery.