OBITUARY.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXIX, Issue 3770, 3 September 1907, Page 3

OBITUARY.

Hon. Waiter W. Johnston. The Hon. Walter Woods Johnston, who w T as at one time a prominent figure in New Zealand politics and in the business life of Wellington, died on Saturday at his residence, No, 6, Hobson Street, Wellington. For a number of yeras the deceased gentleman had lived at Awahuri, near Feilding, and for some time past he had been in poor health. Three w r eeks ago he caught the prevailing influenza, and took to his bed. After a fortnight the illness took a serious turn. The deceased gentleman w 7 as 68 years of ago. It was in 1841 that the deceased, then a child of two, came with his parents to New Zealand in the ship Prince of Wales. His father was the late Hon. John Johnston, who held office in the Stafford Ministry in 1867, and founded the wellknown mercantile house, now known as Johnston and Co. The deceased received his business training under his father in Wellington, and when the former retired he left the business in the hands of his two sons. The Hon. W. W. Johnston entered politics in 1871 as M.H.R. for Manawatu. He • attained Ministerial rank in 1881 as Postmaster-General and. Commissioner of Telegraphs in the Hall Ministry, holding the positions until April 21, 1882, when he became Minister for Public Works, Postmaster - General, and Commissioner for Telegraphs in the Whitaker Government. This was the time of very rapid changes, and the deceased gentleman consequently lost office in October, 1882. However, in September of the following year he joined the Atkinson administration as Minister for Public Works, and became a member of the Executive Council upon its formation, remaining till June 4th, 1884, when he retired from politics, not seeking re-election when the time came. However, he then gave great attention to business matters, taking a prominent part in many public undertakings. Fie was for sometime a director of the Equitable Assurance Company of the United States, but resigned some years ago. When the head office of the Bank of New Zealand was removed from London to Wellington, in 1894, the Hon, W. W, Johnston was appointed one of the shareholders’ directors. This position he resigned in December, 1895, when he was appointed as a director representing Government interests on the controlling board. The deceased gentleman’s reputatation as a financial authority was so well established that in 1888 he was appointed on the committee set up by the Bank of New Zealand shareholders to make an investigation into the condition of the institution, and to bring forward recommendations for placing it on a sounder basis. The deceased leaves a widow, three sons, and four daughters, the latter be-

ing Mrs W. H. Turnbull (Wellington), Mrs Baldwin (Palmerston), Mrs Thomson (Feilding), and Mrs Holmes (Masterton).