Charles Louisson

Charles Louisson
Charles Louisson in ca 1888
New Zealand Legislative Council
In office 22 Dec 1900 – 19 Apr 1924
15th Mayor of Christchurch
In office 21 Dec 1887 – 18 Dec 1889
Preceded by	Aaron Ayers
Succeeded by	Samuel Manning
In office 15 Dec 1897 – 20 Dec 1899
Preceded by	Walter Cooper
Succeeded by	William Reece
Personal details
Born	1840 London
Died	19 April 1924 (aged 82) Strowan, Christchurch
Spouse	Hannah Louisson (m. 1878)
Profession	brewer, businessman

Charles Melville Louisson (1840^[1] – 19 April 1924), known as Charles Louisson or Chas Louisson, was a New Zealand politician. Born in London, and relocated to Australia as a teenager, he worked in farming and on the gold fields. He moved to Christchurch to join his brother Alfred (b. 1832) in business, which they conducted in transport, as merchants and farmers in various places in the South Island. Back in Christchurch, they were joined by their brother Cecil (b. 1837) and bought a brewery, which under their stewardship became very successful.

With financial security behind him, Louisson first became a councillor for Christchurch City Council for six years (1881–1887) before being elected Mayor of Christchurch (1887–1889 and 1897–1899). In all of his two elections as councillor, and four elections as mayor, he was returned unopposed. Subsequently, to his retirement from the mayoralty, he was appointed to the Legislative Council (1900–1924). He held other public offices, for example as Freemason and as a trustee of a benevolent trust. For the last 18 years of his life, he was the president of the NZ Metropolitan Trotting Club (NZMTC) in Christchurch. He helped secure the site of the Addington Raceway and was responsible for greatly extending the area.