The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Nelson, Marlborough & Westland Provincial Districts]
Mr. Henry Leslie Michel
Mr. Henry Leslie Michel
was Mayor of Hokitika during the years 1896–7, and from 1897 to 1903, and was also a member of the Borough
Council from 1885 to the conclusion of his mayoralty in 1903. His municipal policy was always of a progressive nature. He was chairman of the first Charitable Aid Board when the Act of 1885 was brought into force. Mr. Michel has been for many years associated with the Westland Education Board, Harbour Board, and High School Board, and as a Freemason he is Superintendent of the Westland and Nelson district under the New Zealand Constitution. He has been captain of the Fire Brigade for about twenty-five years, and is a past president of the Fire Brigade Association of New Zealand. Mr. Michel was born in Newcastle. New South Wales, in 1858, and when a youth landed at Hokitika, where he has followed commercial pursuits. Since the age of fourteen he has been in the firm of which he is now proprietor. Mr. Michel has always willingly helped the promotion of useful local objects, and is president of numerous clubs and societies. In the year 1887, he received a numerously-signed requisition to
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stand for Parliament, but declined to accede to the request.
Mr. H. L. Michel.