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Arthur Williams (Samoan politician)

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Arthur Williams
Member of the Legislative Council
In office
1924–1929
Personal details
Died3 October 1953
Apia, Western Samoa
ProfessionPlumber

Arthur Williams (died 3 October 1953) was an Australian-born Western Samoan plumber and politician who served as a member of the Legislative Council between 1924 and 1929.

Biography

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Born in Australia, as a teenager Williams ran away to Fiji, where he worked as a chauffeur for the government.[1] In 1915 he visited Western Samoa and decided to remain in the territory permanently.[1] He subsequently set up a plumbing and tinsmith business in 1917,[2][3][4] and married Telesia Tuala in July 1919.[5] He was a freemason and a founding member of the Calliope masonic lodge, as well as being an officer in the Grand Lodge of New Zealand.[2]

When a partially-elected Legislative Council was established, Williams contested the first elections in 1924, and was one of three people elected to the council.[6] Like the other two, Olaf Frederick Nelson and George Westbrook, he was a member of the anti-colonial Mau movement.[7] He was subsequently re-elected in the 1926 elections.[8] However, in the 1929 elections he finished last out of four candidates and lost his seat.[9] He ran unsuccessfully again in the 1941 elections.[10]

He died at Apia Government Hospital on 3 October 1953.[2]

References

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  1. ^ a b Tales of Time: Williams Family The Coconet
  2. ^ a b c Mr. Arthur Williams Pacific Islands Monthly, December 1953, p126
  3. ^ A. Williams Samoanische Zeitung, 5 May 1917
  4. ^ A. Williams Samoanische Zeitung, 19 May 1917
  5. ^ Local and General Samoanische Zeitung, 26 July 1919, p6
  6. ^ Local and General Samoanische Zeitung, 8 February 1924, p5
  7. ^ Samoan deportations New Zealand Herald, 27 December 1927
  8. ^ Lauofo Meti (2002) Samoa: The Making of the Constitution, National University of Samoa, p19
  9. ^ Local and General Samoanische Zeitung, 15 November 1929
  10. ^ Samoan Council Election Pacific Islands Monthly, December 1941, p8