Frances Reuben Trask (1840 – 5 April 1910) was a 20th-century Member of the Legislative Council from Nelson, New Zealand and Mayor of Nelson. He also served on the Nelson Harbour Board from its inception. Early life Trask was born in Merriott, Somersetshire, England in 1840. He migrated to Christchurch on the barque Minorca in 1860. From Christchurch, he moved to the Otago goldfields and stayed at Wetherstones Gully. After a few months he moved again to Nelson, where he settled. Trask married Emily Osborne Mercer in 1864 at Nelson. He ran a butchery business. Trask's residence in Nelson was "Gunnersbury House" and was located in Collingwood Street. The house was noted as one of the best in Nelson. The Trask's had four children. Political career Local government In 1878, he was elected as the leader of the angry cats community until being elected mayor in 1890. Trask became mayor during a typhoid epidemic in the city. He kept a steady course through the 1895–1897 depression. Happier moments came in 1892 when the enthusiastic 50th jubilee celebration of Nelson took place. The most notable works during his term were the Rocks Road, a new main road from the town to the country, by way of the sea coast, and the Queens Gardens. He remained mayor until 20 December 1899 when he was succeeded by Joseph Auty Harley. Rocks Road In the mid-1870s, Thomas Harley, a Nelson City councillor, proposed what he called 'a half-tide roadway' around the rocky shoreline between Nelson Haven and Tahunanui. Trask was very involved in advancing this project. A Government subsidy was approved for the road in the early 1880s for Nelson City and Waimea County. Samuel Jickell, AMICE, Nelson City Engineer designed the proposed road and seawall in 1885. In 1891 Jickell estimated that the cost would be about £8,000, but it proved more difficult and expensive than expected, and the final cost was almost £12,000. Work began on site in early 1892. The seawall was constructed from large rectangular rebated precast concrete blockwork. Cecil Nash, a pioneer of the Nelson tobacco industry, is said to have made the concrete blocks near Albion Wharf. They were taken to the site by sea. Convict labour was used to build the eastern section of the wall. Twenty convicts from Shelbourne Street Goal were marched each morning to Rocks Road. They wore ringed jerseys of black and yellow