The Hon. W. S. Peter was a native of Scotland. He left Home at the age of nineteen for South Australia, where he successfully engaged in sheepfarming. Mr. Peter did a large amount of exploring in North-western Australia, and the district now known as Kimberley. About 1856 he sold out his property and came to New Zealand, where he took up a block of country known as Anam, in the Mount Somers district. There he was engaged in sheepfarming up to the date of his death. In 1868 he was called to the Legislative Council by the Stafford Government, and held his seat for the remainder of his life. Mr. Peter took a lively interest in the local road board, and all that pertained to the welfare of his district. He died on the 23rd of May, 1891, when about seventy-three years of age, and left a family of three sons and three daughters.