The Hon. William Swanson, M.L.C., is one of Auckland's best known and most trusted politicians; he has had a somewhat eventful career, and the record of many vicissitudes which he has experienced will show the general trend of colonial life. Born in Leith, near Edinburgh, on the 30th of May, 1819, he early suffered the loss of both his parents, and was brought up under the care first of his paternal grandfather, and subsequently of an uncle. Shortly after attaining his majority, Mr. Swanson completed his apprenticeship as a shipwright, and lost little time in trying his fortunes in the colonies. Arriving in Auckland in 1844, he found employment in various lines, but wages at that time were low in the Northern Capital, and Mr. Swanson visited California in the hope of striking something better. His voyage thither was eventful enough, as may be imagined from the fact that it was undertaken in a vessel of fourteen tons. The shipwright, however, had confidence in his own work, and, when the customs officer at Auckland declined to clear the vessel outwards on account of her being too small for a foreign voyage, Mr. Swanson, the builder and owner, quietly took his departure for the Bay of Islands, where he found an officer either more ignorant, or less strict as to the tonnage of his little craft. His mates, though possessing a theoretical knowledge of seamanship, were divided in opinion on some of the more abstruse points of navigation, and had it not been for the timely aid of a “passenger”—the late Mr. Bell, brother of Mrs. Allan O'Neill—there is no doubt that the desired haven could never have been reached. With Mr. Bell's assistance, however, Mr. Swanson and his little company found their way to Tahiti, and on to Honolulu, where the vessel was sold, Mr. Swanson, by the transaction, becoming a landed proprietor on a small scale. After working some time in Honolulu at four dollars a day, Mr. Swanson continued his journey, and arrived in California at a time when the wages of skilled artisans ranged from sixteen to twenty-five dollars per day; he was fortunate in obtaining employment for some length of time at the maximum wage. Returning to this colony in 1852, Mr. Swanson took up land at the place now bearing his name, and engaged heartily in the timber industry. Here he not only met with personal prosperity, but put many others in the way of making a competence. Being popular with all classes, and thoroughly trusted, Mr. Swanson was early marked out for a public career. The first position of importance to which he was elected was that of representative of the West Ward on the City Board, immediately on the formation of that body. The next step was to the Provincial Council, in which he represented first the Northern District of Auckland and then the City West; in 1871 he was elected without contest to a seat for Newton in the General Assembly. Mr. Swanson continued a member of the Provincial Council until the abolition of those bodies in 1876. In the House of Representatives he sat continuously until 1884, when, for the first and only time, he was beaten. This is a splendid record for a politician who has, throughout his career, conscientiously abstained from soliciting votes on his own behalf. Though lost to the Lower House, Mr. Swanson was not long out of harness, for in May, 1885, he was offered a seat in the Upper House, as a fitting acknowledgment of past services and present usefulness as a legislator. This offer was made by the Stout-Vogel Government, and was accepted by Mr. Swanson on condition of its being understood that he was free to act as independently as had always been his principle. Ever since his appointment Mr. Swanson has been an active member—not greatly given to talking, but exercising a salutary influence on the deliberations of the Council. As a citizen. Mr. Swanson is held in high esteem. No charitable object has ever been denied his aid, and his private acts of kindness and generosity have all been done with an absence of ostentation well worthy of imitation. The giving of annual treats to the children of the public schools has been a favourite means with Mr. Swanson of affording pleasure to others, and these have generally been given on the reassembling of school after the summer vacation. Of Mr. Swanson's eight children, seven survive and six are married. Mrs. Swanson was a chieftainess belonging to a powerful native tribe, and it is popularly supposed that she brought her husband many broad acres. This is, however, erroneous, as Mr. page 90 Swanson duly purchased from the Crown all his landed estates. His daughters are finished musicians, their indulgent father having provided his children with every opportunity of culture, besides attending to their material well being. For some time before her death, which occurred early in 1897, Mrs. Swanson was in very delicate health.