George Laurenson was a New Zealand Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 for in the South Island

South Island

The South Island is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman Sea, to the south and east by the Pacific Ocean...

.

Member of Parliament

George Laurenson represented the Lyttelton

Lyttelton (New Zealand electorate)

Lyttelton is a former New Zealand Parliamentary electorate. It existed from 1853–90, and again from 1893–1996, when it was replaced by the Banks Peninsula electorate.-Population Centres:...

 electorate in the New Zealand House of Representatives

New Zealand House of Representatives

The New Zealand House of Representatives is the sole chamber of the legislature of New Zealand. The House and the Queen of New Zealand form the New Zealand Parliament....

 for fourteen years from 1899

New Zealand general election, 1899

The New Zealand general election of 1899 was held on Wednesday, 6 December in the general electorates, and on Tuesday, 19 December in the Māori electorates to elect a total of 74 MPs to the 14th session of the New Zealand Parliament. A total number of 373,744 voters turned out to...

 to his death in 1913. He was Minister of Labour, Customs and Marine in 1912.

On 22 March 1912 he stood against Thomas Mackenzie

Thomas Mackenzie

Sir Thomas Noble Mackenzie GCMG was a Scottish-born New Zealand politician and explorer who briefly served as the 18th Prime Minister of New Zealand in 1912, and later served as New Zealand High Commissioner in London....

 to succeed Sir Joseph Ward

Joseph Ward

Sir Joseph George Ward, 1st Baronet, GCMG was the 17th Prime Minister of New Zealand on two occasions in the early 20th century.-Early life:...

 as leader of the Liberal Party, but lost (9 to 22). In July the Liberal government

First Liberal Government of New Zealand

The First Liberal Government of New Zealand was the first responsible government in New Zealand politics organised along party lines. The Government formed following the founding of the Liberal Party and took office on the 24 January 1891, and governed New Zealand for over 21 years until 10 July...

 was defeated, with the defection of some Liberal members like John A. Millar

John A. Millar

John Andrew Millar was a New Zealand politician of the Liberal Party from Otago.Born in Jalandhar, India, he came to New Zealand in 1870...

.

New Liberal Party

Laurenson was the nominal leader or chairman of the New Liberal Party

New Liberal Party

New Liberal Party may refer to:*New Liberal Party *New Liberal Party *New Liberal Party...

 in 1905 though Tommy Taylor was the dominant figure. Like Taylor, Laurenson favoured federation with Australia.

George Laurenson was a successful businessman in Christchurch

Christchurch

Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest urban area after Auckland. It lies one third of the way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of...

. He was born in Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 and was educated in the Shetland Islands

Shetland Islands

Shetland is a subarctic archipelago of Scotland that lies north and east of mainland Great Britain. The islands lie some to the northeast of Orkney and southeast of the Faroe Islands and form part of the division between the Atlantic Ocean to the west and the North Sea to the east. The total...

. 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

University of Canterbury

The University of Canterbury , New Zealand's second-oldest university, operates its main campus in the suburb of Ilam in the city of Christchurch, New Zealand...

).

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."

A son of George Laurenson, George Lyttelton Laurenson CBE

CBE

CBE and C.B.E. are abbreviations for "Commander of the Order of the British Empire", a grade in the Order of the British Empire.Other uses include:* Chemical and Biochemical Engineering...

 (1893–1968), was Commissioner of Transport (NZ Roll of Honour, p. 620).

Fact vs. fiction

• Laurenson never joined the Labour Party
  New Zealand Labour Party
  The New Zealand Labour Party is a New Zealand political party. It describes itself as centre-left and socially progressive and has been one of the two primary parties of New Zealand politics since 1935....
  
  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.

Further reading