George Marsden Waterhouse

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7th Premier of New Zealand
George Marsden Waterhouse

6th Premier of South Australia
In office October 8, 1861 – July 3, 1863
In office 11 October 1872 – 3 March 1873
Preceded by	Edward Stafford
Succeeded by	William Fox

Born	April 6, 1824 Penzance, Cornwall, England
Died	August 6, 1906 Torquay, Devonshire, England
Political party	None

George Marsden Waterhouse (April 6, 1824 – August 6, 1906) was a Premier of South Australia from October 8, 1861 until July 3, 1863 and Premier of New Zealand from 11 October 1872 to 3 March 1873.

His father, the Rev. John Waterhouse, was general superintendent of the Wesleyan Missions in Australia and Polynesia. Waterhouse was born in Penzance, Cornwall, and was aged 15 when his family migrated in 1839, initially to Hobart. Four years later he moved to Adelaide and set up business as a merchant.

He was first elected to parliament in the electoral district of East Torrens in August 1851. He resigned 3 years later, was elected again in 1857 but resigned again soon after.

He supported economic development of the colony through free trade and was elected to the South Australian Legislative Council again in 1860, where he advocated uniform tariffs for Australia. He was chief secretary in the first Thomas Reynolds ministry from May 1860 to February 1861. After Reynolds ended his term as Premier in 1861, Waterhouse formed a government with the intention of finalising a motion in relation to Justice Boothby, a judge in the Supreme Court who was causing difficulties by objecting to the legitimacy of the Appeals Court under the new Constitution. Waterhouse resigned his ministry after this task was completed, but was persuaded to reform another government which lasted until July 1863 before collapsing in the face of accusations of financial irregularities and alleged misappropriation of funds. In 1864 he retired from South Australian politics and spent some time in England.

Waterhouse migrated to New Zealand in 1869 and in 1870 became a member of the New Zealand Legislative Council there. He was in the Fox ministry from 30 October to 20 November 1871, and in October 1872 became premier without portfolio. He resigned in March 1873 finding that as a member of the upper house it was impossible to keep control of his ministry. He remained a private member for many years but falling into ill-health retired to England in 1889, and died at Torquay, Devonshire on 6 August 1906.

Waterhouse was a man of much ability and character but his career both in Australia and New Zealand was much hampered by the poor state of his health. He has the unusual distinction of having been the premier of two colonies.

[edit] External links

Parliament of South Australia
New Zealand Prime Ministers
Serle, Percival. (1949). "Waterhouse, George Marsden". Dictionary of Australian Biography. Sydney: Angus and Robertson.

Preceded by Thomas Reynolds	Premier of South Australia 1861–1863	Succeeded by Francis Dutton
Preceded by Edward Stafford	Premier of New Zealand 1872–1873	Succeeded by William Fox

Premiers of South Australia

Prime Minister of New Zealand
Preceded by: Edward Stafford	(1872-1873)	Succeeded by: William Fox
Sewell \| Fox \| Stafford \| Domett \| Whitaker \| Weld \| Waterhouse \| Vogel \| Pollen \| Atkinson \| Grey \| Hall \| Stout \| Ballance \| Seddon \| Hall-Jones \| Ward \| Mackenzie \| Massey \| Bell \| Coates \| Forbes \| Savage \| Fraser \| Holland \| Nash \| Holyoake \| Marshall \| Kirk \| Rowling \| Muldoon \| Lange \| Palmer \| Moore \| Bolger \| Shipley \| Clark