Bill Schramm


Frederick William Schramm was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party. He was the eleventh Speaker of the House of Representatives, from 1944 to 1946.

Biography

Early life

Schramm was born in Hokitika in 1886. His Danish parents had arrived in New Zealand in the 1860s. He received his education at Hokitika High School and at Canterbury College. He was a prominent sports person in his younger years in athletics, cricket, and hockey, and represented Canterbury College in the New Zealand University championships for two years.
He married Alice Amelia Peard in 1918; they had two daughters. Schramm started his professional career as a clerk with the Justice Department and held positions in Wanganui and Te Kuiti before World War I, and Christchurch, Wellington, and Auckland after the war. He then became deputy-registrar and deputy-sheriff of the Auckland Supreme Court but resigned in 1922 to enter private practice. He was a solicitor and barrister for the last nine years before his election to Parliament.

Political career

In 1927 he stood unsuccessfully for the Auckland City Council on a Labour Party ticket.
In the, he contested the electorate but came third. He was the Member of Parliament for Auckland East from to 1946; when he was defeated for the new electorate of. Originally an ally of John A. Lee, they fell out and Schramm moved for Lee's expulsion at the 1940 Labour conference. Lee supported the National candidate Duncan Rae who defeated Schramm in the electorate in 1946.
Schramm was a member of the Auckland University College Council until his resignation in 1942. In early 1947 he was a nominee for the Mount Albert by-election but was not selected as the candidate.
In November 1947 he was Labour's candidate for the Auckland mayoralty, placing second behind sitting mayor Sir John Allum. In 1949 he stood in Parnell once more and was again defeated. He was then President of the Auckland Labour Representation Committee from 1955 to 1957.

Awards and death

In 1935, Schramm was awarded the King George V Silver Jubilee Medal.
He died in Auckland in 1962 and was buried at Purewa Cemetery.