Alfred Ransom
KCMG | |
---|---|
29th Minister of Lands | |
In office 28 May 1930 – 6 December 1935 | |
Prime Minister | George Forbes |
Preceded by | George Forbes |
Succeeded by | Frank Langstone |
18th Minister of Public Works | |
In office 0 December 1928 – 28 May 1930 | |
Prime Minister | Sir Joseph Ward |
Preceded by | Kenneth Williams |
Succeeded by | William Taverner |
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Pahiatua | |
In office 7 December 1922 – 22 May 1943 | |
Preceded by | Archibald McNicol |
Succeeded by | Keith Holyoake |
Personal details | |
Born | Lower Hutt, New Zealand | 19 March 1868
Died | 22 May 1943 Dannevirke, New Zealand | (aged 75)
Spouse |
Antonette Katinka Sondergaard
(m. 1893) |
Profession | farmer, saddler |
Sir Ethelbert Alfred Ransom
Early life
Ransom was born in 1868 in Lower Hutt. He received his education at Lower Hutt Primary,[1] where he was school mate with Thomas Wilford.[2] He played rugby and tennis during his youth. During the Second Boer War, he was an officer in charge of the Ruahine Mounted Rifles.[2] He was a sheep farmer until 1888, and then a saddler in Dannevirke.[1] From 1920 onwards, he was sheep farming in the Ākitio district.[2]
He held numerous public offices: he was chairman of the
On 1 March 1893, Ransom married Antonette Katinka Sondergaard from Palmerston North at her home town.[3] They lost an infant daughter and a son in 1902 and 1905, respectively.[4][5]
Political career
Years | Term | Electorate | Party | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1922–1925 | 21st | Pahiatua | Liberal | ||
1925–1928 | 22nd | Pahiatua | Liberal | ||
1928 | Changed allegiance to: | United | |||
1928–1931 | 23rd | Pahiatua | United | ||
1931–1935 | 24th | Pahiatua | United | ||
1935–1936 | 25th | Pahiatua | United | ||
1936–1938 | Changed allegiance to: | National | |||
1938–1943 | 26th | Pahiatua | National |
Ransom was elected onto the Dannevirke Borough Council in 1901.[6] He stood for Mayor of Dannevirke in 1903, but was beaten by the Lutheran pastor Hans Madsen Ries in a closely fought contest.[7][8] Ransom was Mayor of Dannevirke from 1910, when he succeeded Ries, to 1919.[1][7]
He represented the rural Wairarapa electorate of Pahiatua for the Liberal Party from 1922, when he defeated Reform's Archibald McNicol.[9] From 1926 to 1928 he was senior opposition whip.[10] During the 1920s he was an advocate for fusion between the Liberal and Reform parties, to avoid vote splitting and best combat the Labour Party.[11]
When the Liberal Party was relaunched as the United Party Ransom contested the leadership of the new party. However, he was narrowly beaten for the position by Sir Joseph Ward, a former Liberal Prime Minister, who had been brought in by party organiser Albert Davy as a compromise candidate.[12] He was then appointed deputy leader of the United Party for the North Island.[2] During the time of the United Government, he was Minister of Public Works (1928–1930) under Ward.[13]
When a terminally ill Ward resigned as Prime Minister in 1930, Ransom contested the leadership of the party again but lost the caucus ballot to George Forbes.[14] Under Forbes he was Minister of Lands and Commissioner of State Forests (1930–1931).[13] He retained his portfolios until 1935 in the United–Reform Coalition.[15] He was twice acting Prime Minister; for five months between 25 August 1930 and 21 January 1931, when Forbes attended the Imperial Conference in London, and again in 1935, when Forbes was overseas once more.[2]
In 1940, he announced that he would not stand again at the next general election due to poor health,[2] but he died in 1943 before the end of the parliamentary term.[16]
Later life
In 1935, Ransom was awarded the King George V Silver Jubilee Medal,[17] and he was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George in the 1935 King's Birthday Honours.[16] He died on 22 May 1943 in Dannevirke, where he is also buried.[2] At the funeral, senior whip Walter Broadfoot represented the National Party, and Prime Minister Peter Fraser represented the First Labour Government.[18] Ransom was survived by his wife, a son and a daughter.[19] His wife died in 1952.[20]
Notes
- ^ a b c d Gustafson 1986, p. 339.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Obituary". The Evening Post. Vol. CXXXV, no. 120. 22 May 1943. p. 6. Retrieved 16 November 2012.
- ^ "Marriage". Bush Advocate. Vol. IX, no. 747. 2 March 1893. p. 3. Retrieved 17 November 2012.
- ^ "Death". Bush Advocate. Vol. XIV, no. 17. 19 April 1902. p. 2. Retrieved 17 November 2012.
- ^ "Death". Bush Advocate. Vol. XVII, no. 74. 30 March 1905. p. 4. Retrieved 17 November 2012.
- ^ "Borough of Dannevirke : Election of Councillors". Bush Advocate. Vol. XII, no. 1998. 25 April 1901. p. 3. Retrieved 17 November 2012.
- ^ a b McGibbon, Ian. "Hans Madsen Ries – Biography". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
- ^ "Borough of Dannevirke : Annual Election of Mayor, 1903". Bush Advocate. Vol. XIV, no. 333. 30 April 1903. p. 3. Retrieved 17 November 2012.
- ^ Wilson 1985, pp. 217, 228.
- ^ Wilson 1985, p. 280.
- ^ Bassett 1982, p. 44.
- ^ Bassett 1982, p. 38.
- ^ a b Wilson 1985, p. 80.
- ^ Bassett 1982, p. 53.
- ^ Wilson 1985, p. 81.
- ^ a b Wilson 1985, p. 228.
- ^ "Official jubilee medals". Evening Post. Vol. CXIX, no. 105. 6 May 1935. p. 4. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
- ^ "Last Respects Paid". Auckland Star. Vol. LXXIV, no. 123. 26 May 1943. p. 4. Retrieved 16 November 2012.
- ^ "Ex-Ministers' Deaths". Auckland Star. Vol. LXXIV, no. 120. 22 May 1943. p. 6. Retrieved 16 November 2012.
- ^ "Death Search". Department of Internal Affairs. Retrieved 17 November 2012.
Search for 'Antonette Katinka' and 'Ransom'
References
- ISBN 0-86870-006-1.
- ISBN 0-474-00177-6.
- Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.