William James Mudie Larnach CMG (1833 - 1898)

Born 27 Jan 1833 in Castle Forbes, New South Wales, Australia

Ancestors

Husband of Eliza Jane (Guise) Larnach — married 27 Jun 1859 (to 8 Nov 1880) in Brighton, Victoria, Australia

Husband of Mary Cockburn (Alleyne) Larnach — married 7 Jan 1882 (to 11 Jan 1887) in Warrington, Otago, New Zealand

Husband of Constance de Bathe (Brandon) Larnach — married 27 Jan 1891 in Wellington, New Zealand

Descendants

Died 12 Oct 1898 at age 65 in Wellington, New Zealand

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Biography

William Larnach CMG is Notable.

William was born in 1833, the fourth child of eleven of John Larnach, a station owner and Emily Mudie.

William initially tried his hand at gold prospecting but later went into banking on the goldfields, becoming the manager of the NSW branch at Geelong.

He married Eliza Jane Guise in 1859.^[1] They had four children in 6 years before leaving Australia in 1866. They initially travelled to the United Kingdom where William was offered a job at the Bank of Otago in Dunedin. On his arrival in Dunedin, William acquired land on the Otago Peninsula and began the construction of The Camp/Larnach's Castle which the family moved into in 1874. The children of Eliza and William were: Donald, Douglas, Kate, Colleen, Alice and Gladys.^[2]

On the professional front, William invested heavily in land speculation, farming and the timber industry. he was elected to Parliament in 1875 and served for a number of terms for the Dunedin, Peninsula and Tuapeka electorates. He was colonial treasurer and minister of public works under Sir George Grey and went to England to arrange a government loan. While he was away from New Zealand, he was appointed a CMG.

In 1880, William's wife, Eliza passed away.^[3] He then married her half-sister, Mary Cockburn Alleyne, who was acting as governess to his children, in 1882.^[4] Mary passed away in 1887^[5] and William then married Constance de Bathe Brandon in 1891.^[6]

Financial and political woes troubled William in his final years and it has been suggested that Constance was having an affair with his son, Douglas. He committed suicide at Parliament Buildings in 1898.^[7][8] He is buried in the family mausoleum with his first two wives, daughter Kate and eldest son Donald, in Dunedin North Cemetery.^[9]

Sources

1. ↑ Births, Deaths, Marriages - Victoria

   Registration number 1267 / 1859

   Family name: LARNACH

   Given name(s) William James Mudie

   Spouse's family name: GUISE

   Spouse's given name(s) Eliza Jane

2. ↑ Early History of Larnach Castle
3. ↑ New Zealand Births, Deaths & Marriages Online Death: 1880/3768 Larnach Eliza Jane 38Y
4. ↑ New Zealand Births, Deaths & Marriages Online Marriage: 1882/749 Mary Cockburn Alleyne and William James Mudie Larnach
5. ↑ New Zealand Births, Deaths & Marriages Online Death: 1887/89 Larnach Mary Cockburn 38Y
6. ↑ New Zealand Births, Deaths & Marriages Online Marriage: 1891/41 Constance De Bath Brandon and William James Mudie Larnach
7. ↑ New Zealand Births, Deaths & Marriages Online Death: 1898/5298 Larnack(sic) William James Mudie 63Y
8. ↑ Shocking Suicide, New Zealand Mail, 20 October 1898
9. ↑ Dunedin's Buried History - Larnach, William

• Wikipedia - William Larnach

• Dictionary of New Zealand Biography - Larnach, William James Mudie