A WORTHY RECORD

. i <. i — THE LATE MR. A. P. SEYMOUR'S CAREER. The late Mr. Arthur Penrose Seymour, who died at Picton on Tuesday, was the last Superintendent of the Province of Marlborough. He was born at Marksbury, in Somersetshire, on 20th March, 1832, and celebrated his 91st' birthday a^l'ew days ago, states the "Marlborough Express." Ho came to New Zealand in 1851, and shortly afterwards settled in Marlborough and had been a resident ever since, always closely associated with the development and progress of the province, both" as "a pioneer and as" a. politician. He was elected.a'member of the first Provincial Council in 1860, and was directly responsible for the. long bitterhess which sprang up,between Picton and Blenheim,' aB it was oh his proposal that the Provincial'capital was moved to Picton from Blenheim. Mr. Seymour, then a big runholder in the Awatere district, became the fourth Superintendent of the Province in' 1864, but from the outset he found himself unable to keep his executive in check or to satisfy the discontented members of his council ; and the difficulties of his position encouraged the Blenheim faction on the council to make another determined effort to wrest the premier position from Picton. After a desperate struggle, in which Mr. A. Beauchamp created a reputation and a record by speaking for nearly eleven hours in defence of Picton, the Superintendent wag' beaten, the seat of Government was again removed to Blenheim, and Mr. Seymour's Superintendericy came to. an end. He was succeeded by Mr. W. H. Eyeß, but in 1870 again became' Superintendent and retained office until the Provincial regime closed, so far as Marlborough was concerned, in 1876, when a great fire, destroyed the Provincial offices, consumed ihe archives, and demolished most of the business part of the town; Mr. Seymour was appointed to the Legislative Council in 1865, but resigned, in 1872 and was elected to represent Wairau in the House of Representatives, in which he was Chairman of Committees from 1879 to 1882. In order to visit England, he resigned his seat 'in the House in 1875, but was again elected as member for 'Wairau in 1876, and held the office until 1881, when he was defeated by Mr. Henry Dodson. Afterwards he' was member for , Waimea-Pictou from 1887 to 1890, when he was defeated by the Hon. C.-.X Milk/ and closed his political career. In 1887 he was elected as the first" chairman of the Board of Education, and long held the record in that office. He was for many years a member'of the Land Board, and he also held office as Mayor of»Picton. He resided in Picton for many years., He married a daughter of the late -Mr. Frederick Huddieston, of Nelson, and the family comprises—-Mrs. Richardson' (Picton), Mrs. Richmond (Nelson), Miss Seymour (Picton), Messrs. G. T. Seymour (Blenheim), 4. C. Seymour (Ngakuta), Walter Seymour (Havelock), and Fortesoue Selmour (Feilding).