OBITUARY

HON. W. EARNSHAW, M.L.C.

The death occurred at, 6.20 this morning at the- Wellington Hospital of the. •Hon. William Earnshaw, M;L.G, after a short illness. The late. Mr. Earnshaw was bom in 1852 in Manchester, where]/'he was specially trained/_",as'.,an., all-round mechanic. At the' age. of. 21 .he wont to America, and two years later returned to England, "but only to embark for New Zealand. Not being able to settle down, he visited Australia,, and,' then wont to America and England, but soon, afterwards returned to Melbourne. In 1878 Mr. Earnshaw arrived in New Zealand and worked at' the Addington Workshops for two. years. The 10 per cent, reduction in tho wages of Government employees -caused him to leave in 1881 for Dunedin,- where he was engaged for several years as a brass .finisher. In 1890 he stood for tho Peninsula seat as a- Labour candidate, defeating'the late Mr. "W. J. MLarnach at a time when the Ballanee Party obtained a sweeping victory over the Atkinson Government. In the 1893 General Election he was returned as a representative for the city of Duncdin (the city electorates-were thea' undivided). During this ' term Mr. Earnshaw was a severe critic of the Soddon administration. He asserted that . the Government had - f ailed, to carry out the original "self-reliant" policy which Mr. Ballanee had made a cardinal plank in his platform, and too-k up an independent attitude in. the House, breaking away frorri'' Labour and attaching himself to Sir.. Robert Stout. This incurred tho hostility of Labour, and lie .was defeated in the election of 1896. For some years afterwards Mr. Earnshaw was engaged in dredging in Westland. He came to We^ lington and joined the mechanical staff of the Harbour' Board. He was in the board's service- until 1913, when he was appointed by tho late Mr. Massey to the Legislative Council >s a Labour representative. Ho was twice re-ap-pointed at the expiry of the seven-year terms. ■ .' Mr. Earnshaw was married in Christchurch in 1879, and is survived by a widow and two sons —Engineer-Com-mander W. Earnshaw, R.N.R., who is a consulting engineer in London, and Mr. V. R. Earnshaw, manager of the workshops branch of the Post and Telegraph' Department. He was chairman of the Council of the New Zealand Marine' Engineers' Institute for a number of years, and a prominent Freemason and Druid. The funeral, which will take place oa Thursday morning, will be private.