Dan Sullivan

Daniel Giles Sullivan (18 July 1882 – 8 April 1947) was a New Zealand Member of Parliament, Cabinet Minister and Mayor of Christchurch. Biography Early life and career Sullivan was born in Waltham, Christchurch on 18 July 1882. His parents were the Irish-born labourer and carter Florance (Flurence) Sullivan and Mary Dow who was from Scotland. The Sullivans were a large family and rather poor, resulting in Sullivan selling newspapers to financially assist his family. Due to this, his formal education was cut short at age 11 but not before passing proficiency. Regardless, he continued to self-educate and voraciously read on a wide range of topics, but particularly biographies and social history. He was particularly influenced by the ideas of German land nationalisation advocate Michael Flürscheim, but also closely read Henry George and Karl Marx. After one year working in a market garden he then became an apprentice french polisher. Sullivan joined the trade union movement following the influence of a foreman who was active in the Christchurch United Furniture Trades Union (CUFTU). Aged 16 he became secretary of the committee organising the union's annual picnic (his first elected office) and briefly was a delegate of the union to the Canterbury Trades and Labour Council. He travelled to London in 1900 after completing his apprenticeship. His trip was made under the guise of improving his techniques as a polisher, but he also visited places he had read about and wished to learn more about trade unions. Along the way Sullivan sold furniture that he had hand made himself door to door across Australia to help fund his trip to Britain.