DEATH OF SIR A. GUINNESS

New Zealand Herald, Volume L, Issue 15325, 11 June 1913, Page 7

DEATH OF SIR A. GUINNESS

t' SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE. 8 ._' - ;; : . ,- :■ ■■:- :-:■ s? AN UNEXPECTED END. p|r '.' • bM' : - ] -- ' ~" i- . TAKEN ILL ON SUNDAY. - TBT TELEGRAPH. —PRESS ASSOCIATION."] Gretmouth, Tuesday. A great shock was experienced in town z >"- •when the death of Sir Arthur Guinness be- ?■">',' came known. He was about his duties on ;.-£'?;;v. Saturday, cleared the mail at the post office the same night, going through a bud- , • get of correspondence until midnight. He I-'. was unwell on Sunday, and complained of severe headache. He took a very bad tarn yesterday, became unconscious, and with one brief interval, remained so until his death at 4.20 p.m. to-day. Sir Arthur had been very busy for tho past few weeks, forming branches of the 1' Deep Sea Harbour League. On Wednesv'V day night he addressed a public meeting '.. at Hokitika, returning to Greymouth on Thursday morning id time to take part in V the official visit of ike battleship. 1 v The party went out in a tug. Heavy * V:; rain fell during' the trip, and tho sea was I:, 1 .":. - very rough. Sir Arthur suffered severely from seasickness, and was thoroughly "'-•';•' '.'] drenched. This, it is thought, may have brought on the illness. PSrME MINISTER'S TRIBUTE. . LOSS TO THE DOMINION. [BT (TELEGRAPH.— PRESS ASSOCIATION.] Wellington, Tuesday. . The Prime Minister (the Hon. W. F. Massey) paid an appreciative and sympathetic tribute to the personal qualities of Sir Arthur Guinness to-night. " The news of his death came as a great 7 " shock to me," said Mr- Massoy. " Only yesterday I received a letter from him on a matter affecting the West Coast, written in his own handwriting, and -without anything to show ha was other than in his usual health. Sir Arthur Guinness was not only my fellow-member for many years, but he was also my personal friend, and I need hardly say I sincerely regret his death. As- Speaker of the House of Representatives he was a great success, firm but tactful, and very considerate toward new members. He had won not only the respect, but also the affection, of the House in a degree very seldom experienced. He was a painstaking member, neglecting no detail, and his death will be a loss to his i y: electorate, to Parliament, and to the Do/iff ' minion as a whole." , '\- A telegram of sympathy and condolence with the relatives of the deceased was despatched by the Prime Minister to Lady Guinness this evening v . ■- .■': '. ■. • -.■":. .-■, ?-> . . REGRET ON THE WEST COAST. RESOLUTIONS OF SYMPATHY. \- [BT (TELEGRAPH.— ASSOCIATION.] HoKTOKA, Tuesday. At the meeting of the Westland County . Council to-day, the following resolution , was passed : —" That the council place on r.j record its dee]? regret at learning of the death of Sir Jjthur Guinness (Speaker of the House of Representatives), and at the - sains time expresses its high opinion of '" , . his public services • since the very early cays oi the coast, when he was a member of the Westland Provincial Council. ~, To Lady Guinness the council tenders ite v: " ■•"•'■■' deepest sympathy, as also to the neighbouring r county and constituency which

loses so .valuable and energetic a public man."" : At the meetings of the Westland Education Board and the General Committee ■of the Westland Goldfields Jubilee, held to-night, similar resolutions were passed. LONG PUBLIC CAREER. TEN YEARS AS SPEAKER. The late Sir Arthur Guinness was 67 years of age, he having been born at Calcutta on January 11, 1846. He was related to the well-known Dublin family of the same name, and was a connection of .#•. lord Plunket, ex-Governor of New Zea--1 land. Deceased was educated at Christ's College Grammar School, Christchurch, and was admitted as a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court on May 26, .1867. He was appointed a notary public *!> : in 1888, and he has practised at Greymouth for the past 46 years. His last ap- , i pearance at the Greymouth Magistrate's 'l Court was on June 2. ; ' Six Arthur was elected a member of the '; ; ;3ftV Westland Provincial Council in 1874, and , .he continued to be a member of that body ? ||gU until the abolition of the provinces in - <' 1876. He was elected a member of the Grey County Council in 1876, and he held -the position of chairman of that body for nine years. He was a member of the Greymouth Borough Council in 1888, hold?tf S ing the seat for one year. In July, 1884, he was elected to the House of Representatives as member for the Grey district, and he has sat continuously for that constituency since that time. He was apSS?' pointed a member of the Grey Harbour I | Board in 1884, and he held the position a ever since, with the exception of a period " / of two years. He was elected Chairman :J v|{; ; of Committees in the House of Representa- , tives in 1893, and he held that office until roi<- ten years ago, when he was elected Speaker of the, House, in succession to Sir Maurice O'Rorke. He was. succes- -.. -. sively re-elected Speaker in 1906, 1909, and 1912. He was knighted on the occasion of the Coronation of King George, in 1911. . Ha was appointed a governor of the Greymouth District High School in 1893, and he held that position until his death. Sir- Arthur was captain of the Westland ■,'. : - cricket eleven from 1876 to 1888, and he •':' '- was patron of innumerable societies »'- throughout the district. He leaves a .widow, but no children.