Stuart Keith Spry (1911 – 14 October 1991) was a New Zealand swimmer, conservationist and local politician. On his death The Dominion described him as "one of the great identities of Wellington city". Biography Early life and career Spry was born in New Zealand in 1911 on either 6 June (death entry) or 6 July (birth entry) to Palmer and Isabel Spry. In his youth Spry was a talented swimmer. He was New Zealand champion at breaststroke and only narrowly missed out on selection for the New Zealand swim team for the 1934 British Empire Games. His love of swimming, other sports and outdoor activities as a child lasted all of his life. Spry was a textile importer and women's wear manufacturer by trade. He married Edith (Eda) Beatrice Burney in 1935 with whom he had two sons and two daughters. Political career In 1965 Spry was elected to the Wellington City Council on a Labour Party ticket and held a seat continuously until he retired from the council in 1986. Wellington Mayor Sir Michael Fowler later described Spry as an "extremely good" councillor. Spry was a conservationist and spent 15 years as the chairman of the parks and recreation committee. He supported the move by councillor George Porter to formalise town planning procedure and inserted provisions to incentivize developers to preserve areas for open space so locals can use them for recreation. Spry was affectionately known as "Mr Parks" for his advocacy and was labeled as "...a 'greenie' long before the word was ever coined". After the 1974 election he became leader of Labour's council caucus and accordingly he was nominated for the post of Deputy Mayor. Spry was experienced for the role, having been a member of almost every council committee and had been a committee chairman. However he lost the vote to comparatively inexperienced three-year councillor Ian Lawrence. Spry stood for election to the New Zealand House of Representatives for the Labour Party on two occasions. He stood in in both and finishing in second place on both occasions to future Prime Minister Jack Marshall. In 1960 Spry contested the Labour Party nomination for the seat, but was unsuccessful. In 1969 he unsuccessfully contested the Labour pre-selection for following the retirement of Arnold Nordmeyer, however he lost to fellow city councillor Gerald O'Brien. Spry was also a member of the Wellington Harbour Board. He was first elected