William Earnshaw

William Earnshaw (1852–1931) was a New Zealand Member of Parliament for Peninsula and Dunedin City, in the South Island.

Contents

Member of Parliament

William Earnshaw represented the Peninsula (1890–1893) and Dunedin City (1893–1896) electorates in the New Zealand House of Representatives.

Independent Liberal

In 1890 William Earnshaw contested William Larnach's Peninsula seat. His victory made him a national figure, one of the new breed of working-class MPs [1]

A strong prohibitionist, Earnshaw became one of Sir Robert Stout's few consistent supporters in Parliament after 1893. This put him off-side with Premier Richard Seddon.

'Plain Bill' Earnshaw was born in Manchester, England and came to New Zealand in 1878. He was a brass-founder in Dunedin[2]

Earnshaw was appointed to the Legislative Council in 1913 and served until his death in 1931.[3]

References

  1. ^ Thomson, Jane (ed.) (1998), Southern people: a dictionary of Otago Southland biography, Dunedin, [N.Z.]: Longacre Press in association with the Dunedin City Council, ISBN 1-877-13511-9  p.144.
  2. ^ Hamer, David (1988), The New Zealand Liberals: the years of power, 1891-1912, Auckland, [N.Z.]: Auckland University Press, ISBN 1-869-40014-3  pp. 186, 362.
  3. ^ Wilson, James Oakley (1985), The New Zealand Parliamentary Record: 1840-1984 (4th ed.), Wellington, [N.Z.]: Government Printer  p. 152.

Further reading

  • Hamer, David (1988), The New Zealand Liberals: the years of power, 1891-1912, Auckland, [N.Z.]: Auckland University Press, ISBN 1-869-40014-3 
  • Thomson, Jane (ed.) (1998), Southern people: a dictionary of Otago Southland biography, Dunedin, [N.Z.]: Longacre Press in association with the Dunedin City Council, ISBN 1-877-13511-9 
  • Wilson, James Oakley (1985), The New Zealand Parliamentary Record: 1840-1984 (4th ed.), Wellington, [N.Z.]: Government Printer