Henry Wigram Sir Henry Francis Wigram ( 18 January 1857 – 6 May 1934 ) was a British - born New Zealand businessman , politician and aviation promoter . He is best known for his role in developing a public transport system in Christchurch and as a key player in the establishment of the Royal New Zealand Air Force . Early life and business . The son of Henry Knox Wigram , a barrister , and a grandson of Octavius Wigram ( 1794 – 1878 ) , Governor of the Royal Exchange Assurance Corporation , Wigram was born in London and was educated at Harrow School . His mother was Mary Anne Pomeroy , a daughter of the 5th Viscount Harberton ( 1790 – 1862 ) . After working for the Bank of England and a shipping company , ill - health led him to emigrate to New Zealand , where he arrived in 1883 . He returned to England briefly in 1885 in order to marry Agnes Vernon Sullivan . They had no children , and Agnes survived Henry by 23 years , dying in 1957 . Together with his brother , William Arthur Wigram , Henry bought a malthouse and brickworks business in the Heathcote Valley between Christchurch and Lyttelton . They soon took over two other brickworks and pipeworks and founded a nail factory and seed company . His prominence in business led to Wigram being invited to chair the committee for the Canterbury Jubilee celebration in 1900 , and he remained heavily involved in public affairs for the next thirty years . Mayor of Christchurch . In 1902 , Wigram was nominated for the mayoralty and was elected unopposed . He worked on improving the tramway system , which until that time used horse - drawn trams with three independent operators . The Christchurch Tramway Board was formed in 1903 , with Wigram as deputy - chairman . In order to facilitate planning and the development of infrastructure , Wigram campaigned for a reduction in the eleven separate boroughs that made up Greater Christchurch , and was successful in getting Linwood , St Albans and Sydenham to amalgamate with the city . The Tramway Board commenced electric tram services in 1905 . Legislative Council . On 22 June 1903 , Wigram was appointed to the Legislative Council by the First Liberal Government . He retired from his business interests but retained a number of company directorships , including that of the " Lyttelton Times " newspaper . He resigned from the Legislative Council on 12 October 1920 . Aviation . Wigram became aware of the potential of aviation during a visit to England in 1908 . Unsuccessful at persuading the New Zealand Government to become involved in aviation , he formed a private flying school in Christchurch in 1916 . This was the second in the country , the Walsh brothers having opened the New Zealand Flying School at Auckland a year earlier . Wigram purchased land at Sockburn for his Canterbury ( NZ ) Aviation Company and at his own expense purchased three Caudron biplanes from Britain . The aim of the school was to train pilots for the war , to promote aviation in local defence and to pioneer commercial aviation . By 1919 , the school had built 10 aircraft and trained 182 pilots . Wigram offered the school to the government for defence purposes , but it took another four years and £10 , 000 donation before the government accepted . The airfield at Sockburn was renamed Wigram in honour of its founder . Wigram was also one of the founders of the Canterbury Aero Club and was the first patron of the New Zealand Aero Club in 1930 . He was knighted in 1926 for his services to aviation . In 1949 , his widow Agnes presented the Lady Wigram Trophy , and an annual motor race was established at the Wigram airbase .