Arthur Porritt, Baron Porritt
New Zealand viceroy, physician, athlete (1900-1994)
Colonel Arthur Espie Porritt, Baron Porritt, (10 August 1900 – 1 January 1994) was a New Zealand physician, military surgeon, statesman and athlete. He won a bronze medal at the 1924 Summer Olympics in the 100 m sprint. He served as the 11th governor-general of New Zealand from 1967 to 1972, becoming the first New Zealand-born person to hold the office.
Early life
Porritt was born in Whanganui, New Zealand, the son of Ivy Elizabeth Porritt (née McKenzie) and Ernest Edward Porritt, a doctor. His mother died in 1914 during his first year at the Wanganui Collegiate School, and his father left soon after to serve in World War I. He became a keen athlete.
In 1920 Porritt began studying towards a medical degree at the University of Otago where he was a resident at Selwyn College and President of the Selwyn College Students' Association. In 1923 Porritt was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship, and he studied medicine from 1924 to 1926 at Magdalen College, Oxford.
He married Mary Francis Wynne Bond, of Whanganui, in 1926.
Sporting career
Porritt represented New Zealand at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, France, where he won a bronze medal in the 100 metre dash; the winner was Harold Abrahams (1899–1978). The race took place at 7 pm on 7 July 1924.
“Arthur Porritt, Baron Porritt” enters the record as new Zealand viceroy, physician, athlete (1900-1994). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Arthur, Porritt and Baron can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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