George Laurenson

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George Laurenson (1857 – 19 November 1913) was a New Zealand Member of Parliament for Lyttelton in the South Island.

Member of Parliament

Parliament of New Zealand
Years Term Electorate Party
1899–1902 14th Lyttelton Liberal
1902–1905 15th Lyttelton Liberal
1905–1908 16th Lyttelton Liberal
1908–1911 17th Lyttelton Liberal
1911–1913 18th Lyttelton Liberal

Laurenson represented the Lyttelton electorate in the New Zealand House of Representatives for fourteen years from 1899 to his death in 1913.[1] He was Minister of Labour, Customs and Marine in 1912.[2]

On 22 March 1912 he stood against Thomas Mackenzie to succeed Sir Joseph Ward as leader of the Liberal Party, but lost (9 to 22). In July the Liberal government was defeated, with the defection of some Liberal members like John A. Millar.[3]

New Liberal Party

Laurenson was the nominal leader or chairman of the New Liberal Party in 1905 though Tommy Taylor was the dominant figure.[4] Like Taylor, Laurenson favoured federation with Australia.[5]

George Laurenson was a successful businessman in Christchurch. He was born in Edinburgh, Scotland and was educated in the Shetland Islands. Laurenson served on numerous local boards and committees: he was chairman of the Lyttelton Harbour Board and the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce. Laurenson was a member of the Navy League Canterbury (13 March 1905, Item N1, MB-129, Macmillan Brown Library Archives, University of Canterbury).

The Lyttelton Times 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." [6]

A son of George Laurenson, George Lyttelton Laurenson CBE (1893–1968), was Commissioner of Transport.[7]

Fact vs. fiction

  • Laurenson never joined the Labour Party though he agreed with the Labour Party's stand during the 1913 general strike, and appeared at meetings with the leaders of the Federation of Labour.[8]

Notes

  1. ↑ Wilson 1985, p. 212.
  2. ↑ Wilson 1985, p. 75.
  3. ↑ Hamer 1988, pp. 349–354.
  4. ↑ Whitcher 1966, p. 43.
  5. ↑ New Zealand Parliamentary Debates 113: 441 
  6. ↑ Lyttelton Times, 13 June 1902  n.p.
  7. ↑ NZ Roll of Honour, p. 620)
  8. ↑ Gustafson 1961, p. 4.

References

  • Gustafson, Barry S. (1961), The advent of the New Zealand Labour Party, 1910-1919 [M.A.- University of Auckland] 
  • Hamer, David (1988), The New Zealand Liberals: The Years of Power, 1891-1912 (1 ed.), Auckland: Auckland University Press, ISBN 1-86940-014-3 
  • Whitcher, G. F. (1966), The New Liberal Party, 1905 [M.A.(Hons.) - University of Canterbury] 
  • Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103. 
  • Wood, G. Anthony, ed. (1996). Ministers and Members: In the New Zealand Parliament. Dunedin: Otago University Press. 
New Zealand Parliament
Preceded by
John Joyce		 Member of Parliament for Lyttelton
1899–1913 		Succeeded by
James McCombs
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