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

Legislative Council A legislative council is the legislature, or one of the legislative chambers, of a nation, colony, or subnational division such as a province or state. It was commonly used to label unicameral or upper house legislative bodies in the Brit ...

between 1924 and 1929.

Biography

Born in Australia, as a teenager Williams ran away to

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

, where he worked as a chauffeur for the government.Tales of Time: Williams Family
The Coconet In 1915 he visited Western Samoa and decided to remain in the territory permanently. He subsequently set up a plumbing and tinsmith business in 1917,Mr. Arthur Williams
''Pacific Islands Monthly'', December 1953, p126 and married Telesia Tuala in July 1919. He was a

freemason Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

and a founding member of the Calliope

masonic lodge A Masonic lodge (also called Freemasons' lodge, or private lodge or constituent lodge) is the basic organisational unit of Freemasonry. It is also a commonly used term for a building where Freemasons meet and hold their meetings. Every new l ...

, as well as being an

officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...

in the Grand Lodge of New Zealand. 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. Like the other two,

Olaf Frederick Nelson Ta'isi Olaf Frederick Nelson (24 February 1883 – 28 February 1944) was a Samoan businessman and politician. He was one of the founding leaders of the anti-colonial Mau movement. Biography Nelson was born on 24 February 1883 in Safune on t ...

and George Westbrook, he was a member of the anti-colonial

Mau movement The Mau was a nonviolence, non-violent movement for Samoan independence from colony, colonial rule during the first half of the 20th century. ''Mau'' means 'resolute' or 'resolved' in the sense of 'opinion', 'unwavering', 'to be decided', o ...

. He was subsequently re-elected in the

1926 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1926. Africa * 1926 Egyptian parliamentary election * 1926 Lagos by-election * 1926 Northern Rhodesian general election * 1926 South West African legislative election Asia * 1926 Hong Kong sanitary boa ...

.Lauofo Meti (2002) ''Samoa: The Making of the Constitution'', National University of Samoa, p19 However, in the 1929 elections he finished last out of four candidates and lost his seat. He ran unsuccessfully again in the 1941 elections.Samoan Council Election
''Pacific Islands Monthly'', December 1941, p8 He died at

Apia Apia () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Samoa. It is located on the central north coast of Upolu, Samoa's second-largest island. Apia falls within the political district (''itūmālō'') of Tuamasaga. The Apia Urban A ...

Government Hospital on 3 October 1953.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Arthur Australian expatriates in Fiji Australian emigrants to Samoa 20th-century Samoan businesspeople Members of the Legislative Council of Samoa 1953 deaths