Background
Braithwaite was born in Cliburn, near Penrith in the northwest of England, in 1848. His father subsequently remarried and the family moved again, in 1860, to Dunedin, New Zealand.
politician Vice-President bookseller
Braithwaite was born in Cliburn, near Penrith in the northwest of England, in 1848. His father subsequently remarried and the family moved again, in 1860, to Dunedin, New Zealand.
He was mayor of Dunedin from 1905 to 1906. The family emigrated to Melbourne, Australia in 1852, but Braithwaite"s mother died during the voyage. Braithwaite"s father died about three years later.
Among them, John Braithwaite, was convicted and executed for mutiny during World War I, and was finally pardoned by the New Zealand government in 2000.
Another son, Rewi Braithwaite, played in New Zealand"s first official international soccer match, against Australia in 1922, and another, Warwick Braithwaite, became a noted orchestral conductor. Braithwaite was first elected to the Dunedin City Council in 1901 and re-elected two years later.
He was elected unopposed as mayor of Dunedin in 1905 and retired after serving for a one-year term. His mayoralty was characterised by the practical completion of the Dunedin tramway system.
Braithwaite belonged to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and was a past grand master and life member.
He was also vice-president of the Otago Football Association for a time, and chairman of the Empire Pictures Company. Braithwaite died at his home in the Dunedin suburb of Street Clair on 27 March 1917, and was buried at the Southern Cemetery.
He also spent three years on the Ocean Beach Domain Board and served as a member of the city"s licensing committee. He was a member of the Anglican Synod from 1892, and also served on the City Mission committee and the committee of the Bible in State Schools League.
