Sir Walter Charles Frederick Carncross (23 April 1855 – 30 June 1940) was a New Zealand politician of the

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Biography

Early life

Carncross was born in

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, Victoria, in 1855 (or 1853). He came to

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

with his parents when he was seven years old. Carncross married Mary, a daughter of R. Johnston in 1883. He was to become a newspaper proprietor by trade, owning both the ''Taieri Advocate'' & ''Eltham Argus''.

Political career

He represented the electorate from to 1902, when he retired. He was in favour of perpetual leasing of land and opposed the sale of the railways. He was opposed to

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and in 1891 deliberately moved an amendment that was intended to make the bill fail in the Legislative Council. His amendment was for women to become eligible to be voted into the

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. This infuriated the suffragette Catherine Fulton, who organised a protest at the . He served as the Liberal Party's Senior Whip in 1902, his last year in the lower house He was appointed to the Legislative Council on 18 March 1903 by 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 ...

, and at the expiry of his seven-year terms, he was reappointed five times; on 18 March 1910, on 17 March 1917 & 17 March 1924 by the Reform Government; 17 March 1931 by the United Government; and 16 March 1938 by the First Labour Government. His district was Taranaki, and then Eltham from 1917. He served on the Council until his death. He was elected Chairman of Committees on 6 July 1910 and served in this role until 1 November 1918, when he became

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

, succeeding the deceased Charles Johnston. He remained Speaker until 18 July 1939; his 21-year service as speaker was an Empire record. He was succeeded by

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Mark Fagan Mark Anthony Fagan (17 November 1873 – 31 December 1947) was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party and a union secretary. He was Speaker of the Legislative Council from 1939 until his death. Biography Early life Fagan was born at G ...

during the time of the First Labour Government. Carncross was appointed a

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in the 1922 King's Birthday Honours. In 1935, he was awarded the

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Death

Carncross died on 30 June 1940 at his home in

Eltham Eltham ( ) is a district of southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It is east-southeast of Charing Cross, and is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. The three wards of Elt ...

, Taranaki. He was survived by Lady Carncross, a son and a daughter.*

Notes

References

* * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Carncross, Walter 1855 births 1940 deaths Speakers of the New Zealand Legislative Council Members of the New Zealand Legislative Council New Zealand Knights Bachelor New Zealand Liberal Party MPs New Zealand Liberal Party MLCs New Zealand MPs for Dunedin electorates Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand businesspeople Unsuccessful candidates in the 1887 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1884 New Zealand general election 19th-century New Zealand politicians New Zealand politicians awarded knighthoods