George Laurenson (5 July 1857 – 19 November 1913) was a New Zealand

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

for in the South Island.

Early life

The ''

Lyttelton Times The ''Lyttelton Times'' was the first newspaper in Canterbury, New Zealand, publishing the first edition in January 1851. It was established by the Canterbury Association as part of its planned settlement of Canterbury and developed into a libera ...

'' parliamentary correspondent described Laurenson as: "a Scotchman by birth, a Shetlander by education, a New Zealander by adoption, a storekeeper by trade, and a yachtsman by preference." George Laurenson was a partner in Forbes and Co, Ships Chandlers, of Lyttelton. He was born in

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, Scotland, and was educated in the Shetland Islands. Laurenson served on numerous local boards and committees: he was chairman of the

Lyttelton Harbour Board The Lyttelton Harbour Board was established on 10 January 1877 to manage Lyttelton Harbour. The harbour had previously been managed by the Canterbury Provincial Council, but provincial government ceased to exist on 1 January 1877. The harbour boa ...

and the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce. Laurenson was a member of the Navy League Canterbury.

Member of Parliament

Laurenson represented the Lyttelton electorate in the New Zealand House of Representatives for fourteen years from

1899 Events January 1899 * January 1 ** Spanish rule ends in Cuba, concluding 400 years of the Spanish Empire in the Americas. ** Queens and Staten Island become administratively part of New York City. * January 2 – **Bolivia sets up a c ...

to his death in 1913. From 1909 until 1910 he was senior whip of the Liberal Party.

New Liberal Party

Laurenson was the nominal leader or chairman of the New Liberal Party in 1905 though

Tommy Taylor Thomas Taylor (29 January 1932 – 6 February 1958) was an English footballer, who was known for his aerial ability. He was one of the eight Manchester United players who died in the Munich air disaster. Career Taylor was born in Smithies, ...

was the dominant figure. Like Taylor, Laurenson favoured federation with Australia. Laurenson was one of the few who stood as a New Liberal in the election and retained his seat. Most, including Taylor were defeated.

Cabinet Minister

On 22 March 1912 he stood in a leadership election against

Thomas Mackenzie Sir Thomas Mackenzie (10 March 1853 – 14 February 1930) was a Scottish-born New Zealand politician and explorer who briefly served as the 18th prime minister of New Zealand in 1912, and later served as New Zealand High Commissioner in ...

to decide the successor to Sir

Joseph Ward Sir Joseph George Ward, 1st Baronet, (26 April 1856 – 8 July 1930) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 17th prime minister of New Zealand from 1906 to 1912 and from 1928 to 1930. He was a dominant figure in the Liberal and Unit ...

as leader of the Liberal Party, but lost (9 votes to 22). He was subsequently the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Labour, Customs and Marine in Mackenzie's cabinet. In July the

Liberal government Liberal government may refer to: Australia In Australian politics, a Liberal government may refer to the following governments administered by the Liberal Party of Australia: * Menzies Government (1949–66), several Australian ministries under S ...

was defeated, after the defection of some Liberal members like John A. Millar to Reform.

Local politics

In April 1913, Laurenson stood for mayor of Lyttelton, contesting the election with John Richard Webb, a Lyttelton borough councillor. Webb won; he received 608 votes to Laurenson's 490.

Later life

Laurenson was a Labour movement sympathizer, but never formally joined the Labour Party though he agreed with the Labour Party's stand during the 1913 general strike, and was often known to have appeared at meetings with the leaders of the Federation of Labour (the 'Red Feds'). Laurenson died on 19 November 1913 aged just 56. Laurenson's seat was won by a Labour candidate,

James McCombs James (Jimmy) McCombs (9 December 1873 – 2 August 1933) was a New Zealand Member of Parliament for Lyttelton. Biography Early life and career McCombs was born in Treanmore, Mohill, County Leitrim, Ireland, the elder child of George McCombs, ...

. A son of George Laurenson, George Lyttelton Laurenson

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(1893–1968), was Commissioner of Transport.NZ Roll of Honour, p. 620)

Notes

References

* * * * * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Laurenson, George 1857 births 1913 deaths New Zealand Liberal Party MPs Independent MPs of New Zealand Members of the Cabinet of New Zealand Local politicians in New Zealand New Zealand businesspeople New Zealand people of Scottish descent Politicians from Edinburgh People from Shetland New Liberal Party (New Zealand) MPs Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand MPs for Christchurch electorates 19th-century New Zealand politicians Lyttelton Harbour Board members