DEATH OF MR GEORGE LAURENSON M.P.

Press, Issue 14828, 20 November 1913, Page 10

DEATH OF MR GEORGE LAURENSON M.P.

(iT.E-S.S ASSOCIATION TELEGRAM.) WELLINGTON, November 19. Mr George Laurenson, M.P. for Lytteiton. died at -1 a.m. to-day.

Tho news of Mr Laurcnson's death caused surprise and regret in Lytteiton, where it was not generally known till a few days ago that- lie "as not iv his usual health. Immediately on receipt of tho news the flags on tho public, and on many of the private, buildings, were hung at halfmast as a mark of respect.

.Mr i_,aureu-_oii w_is uorn in Edinburgh in Is-j7, and came out to New Zealand with Jus people in lS<t>. ill 1 received his early education under a tutor at his lather's house in Edinburgh, aud spent a year with Kobt. .Moore and Co., shipping chandlery of Glasgow, k-nruing tno business. When the late -Mr Laurenson arrived in New Zealand lie commenced to study for the Civil Service, aud at the examination at which lie sat ho headed the list in Canterbury.

His first and only employment when he reached New Zealand was with the tirm ot Forbes and Co., Lytteiton. He was for a time one of The stall', and • afterwards 'rose to the position of a member of the linn and remained a partner until he retired in 190 G. Throughout his life he took a very deep interest in local and political affairs. He was a member of tlio Lytteiton Borough Council, chairman and member of the Lytteiton School Committee, and chairman and member of the Lytteiton Harbour Board.

ills political career Oegau in tho year loiii), when he entered a triangular contest for tlio Lytteiton seat. i.ne sitting member, Mr John Joyce, was a very strong Seddonian canuuiate. Air \V. Jacques was the Opposition candidate, and Air Laurenson entered tho held as an Independent Liberal. Mr Joyce, while in the thick of the election campaign, died suddenly. No other Government candidate was nominated, and Mr Laurenson was returned with an overwhelming majority. He represented Lytteiton continuously as a supporter of tho Seddon and Ward Governments. About 1906, however, he broke away from tho Seddonian control, and became a member of an Independent section known as the New Liberals. There wero four in this little party, all men of prominence. Mr Fisher the present Minister of Marine, ■the late Mr T. E. Taylor, Mr H. I). Bedford, senior member for Dunedin, and Mr Laurenson. This particular episode caused for a time bad feeling to exist between Mr Seddon and Mr Laurenson, and led, so it was understood, to the passing over of the latter when consideration was being given to the filling up of Cabinet vacancies. Certainly Mr Laurenson, though well qualified for Cabinet rank, never got it during the regime of Mr Seddon and Sir Joseph Ward.

The Seddon-Taylor case again brought Mr Laurenson in conflict with Mr Seddon, and generally it may bo stated that a certain amount of feeling always existed between tho two men. Mr Laurenson was the principal witness called for the plaintiff, but his evidence regarding the conversation on which the action was based was not, from the plaintiff's point of view, what it might havo been. The exact words used were in question, and Mr Laurenson could not remember them. ,

With the resignation of the Ward Ministry following upon the last general election Mr • Laurenson was invited to become a member of Mr Mackenzie's Cabinet. He consented, and received the portfolios of "Marine, Labour, and Customs, which he held until the Government was defeated.

The late member's interest in his electorate was unbounded, and all movements and organisations found in him a ready helper. At one time ho held the idea that Lytteiton might be made the centre of a big fishing industry. Another Port project, however, which proved more successful, was the Diamond Harbour scheme. It was Mr Laurenson who first introduced tlie question of the Council purchasing the beautiful property across the harbour from Lytteiton, and cutting it up into residential sections. Although the proposal was not given effect to for somo years, it is now an accomplished fact, and it is to Mr Laurenson in the first olace that it is due.

Mr Laurenson was appointed a member of the Sailors' Home Committee by the Board in 1902. He was an elder of St. Paul's Church, Christchurch, also an elder of St. John's Presbyterian Church, Lytteiton. He was also a Freemason and a member of tho Unanimity Lodge. He devoted particular attention to Sunday school work, especially as it related to the boys, and he was responsible for the formation of the Boys' Gordon Club, Lytteiton, out of which sprang the Boys' Gordon Hall, Christchurch. Ho was chief of the Scottish Society, commodore of the Canterbury Yacht Club, vice-president of the Christchurch Sailing Club, and patron of the Lytteiton Football, Cricket, and Tennis Clubs, tho Opawa Tennis Club, and the Woolston Band. Yachting exercised over him a strong fascination, and he was the owner of a well-known yacht, the Fleetwing, for several years. The late Mr Laurenson leaves a widow and a family of seven children, three sons and four daughters. One of the sons is in the Bank of New Zealand. Christchurch, another in tho Survey Department at Whangarei. He has also two brothers and three sisters.