William Tanner (politician)

For other politicians of this name, see William Tanner (disambiguation).

William Tanner
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Avon
In office 20 December 1893 – 2 December 1908
Preceded by	Edwin Blake
Succeeded by	George Warren Russell
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Heathcote
In office 5 December 1890 – 20 December 1893
Preceded by	Frederic Jones
Succeeded by	electorate abolished
Personal details
Born	1851 Northamptonshire, England
Died	1938 (aged 86–87)
Political party	Liberal (1905 onward)
Children	Walter Tanner

William Wilcox Tanner (1851–1938) was a New Zealand politician of the Liberal Party. In 1905 he was associated with the New Liberal Party group.

Early life

William Tanner was born in Moulton, Northamptonshire, England, in 1851. In 1877 he married a daughter of Mr. J. Browett of London. They came to New Zealand in 1879 on the Waitara. He worked as a boot maker in both England and New Zealand.

Political career

New Zealand Parliament

Years	Term	Electorate		Party
1890–1893	11th	Heathcote			Liberal–Labour
1893–1896	12th	Avon			Liberal–Labour
1896–1899	13th	Avon			Liberal–Labour
1899–1902	14th	Avon			Liberal–Labour
1902–1905	15th	Avon			Liberal–Labour
1905–1908	16th	Avon			Liberal

William Tanner represented the Christchurch seats of Heathcote from 1890 to 1893 and then Avon from 1893 to 1908, when he was defeated.

Among the radical policies that Tanner approved of were-the nationalisation of land, periodic revaluation of Crown leaseholds, and the establishment of a state bank.

He was a member of the Woolston Municipal Council (1893–1900), Canterbury Hospital Board (1911–14), and Secretary to the Bootmakers' Union of Christchurch. Tanner was considered to be "the first Labour candidate" to be elected to the New Zealand House of Representatives in 1890 when he was successful in the Heathcote electorate.

Tanner was described by the Lyttelton Times in 1902 as: "Methodical, studious, always ready to refer to statistics, records and a terror for detail" (Lyttelton Times, 18 October 1902, p. 4). The Christchurch Press said of him: "Nice voice, speaks slowly with a precision almost painful...Hard-working, intelligent, industrious and no reason to doubt his honesty".

Family

Tanner died in 1938. His son Walter Tanner was the second Chief Censor of Films in New Zealand.

References

• The New Liberal Party 1905 by G.F. Witcher (1966, MA(Hons) Thesis-University of Canterbury, Christchurch)
• Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First published in 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.
• Wood, G. Anthony, ed. (1996). Ministers and Members: In the New Zealand Parliament. Dunedin: Otago University Press.