The daylight saving man

Quick poll. Which side do you fall on - you love daylight savings and can’t wait for it to be lighter in the evenings? Or do you loathe the mucking about that sends you into sleep deficit for weeks?
Well, this is who you have to thank/blame for it.
Thomas Kay Sidey was born May 27, 1863 to John and Johan (or Johanna) Sidey in Dunedin. John had been born in Scotland and came to New Zealand where he gained some wealth as a storekeeper in the Otago Gold Rush.
Tom became a lawyer and practised as solicitor before getting into politics.
He became a member of the Caversham Borough Council and then its mayor before being elected to the House of Representatives, later going on to the Legislative Council (what was New Zealand’s upper house of Parliament) before being Attorney-General and then Minister for Justice.
But it's not the details of his political career that he is remembered for now, but rather for putting forward the private members bill to put the clock back one hour in summer every year called the New Zealand Local Time Bill.
There was any number of stories in the newspapers - including that the cost in saving in artificial light would be over £2 million, the support of the Southland Rowing Association, (in fact a lot of sporting bodies wanted it) that work hours should be shifted to accommodate the extra time in the evening and that farmers supported it, then that they didn’t.
It came close to passing in 1915 when the House of Representative passed it but the Legislative Council rejected it before passing it in 1926 with the extra hour coming into effect in 1927.
Tom was knighted for his efforts in 1930.
Over time there have been a number of changes, stopping in 1946 and restarted in 1975, public debates and petitions and extending the hours.
Tom married Helena Baxter in 1903, and they had one son (who went on to be Mayor of Dunedin).
He died on May 20, 1933 aged 69, and was buried in Anderson’s Bay Cemetery in Dunedin but was disinterred and reburied over a year later in 1934.
Photo by Todd Trapani.