John Williamson was a New Zealand politician. He represented the "Pensioner Settlements" (consisting of the Auckland suburbs of Howick, Onehunga, Otahuhu, and Panmure) in the 2nd New Zealand Parliament, and represented the City of Auckland East electorate in the 3rd Parliament, the 4th Parliament, and the 5th Parliament. He was a minister without portfolio in the government of William Fox, and also participated in the Auckland provincial politics. He died in 1871, while still in Parliament.
Williamson's formative 25 years in Newry, with its diverse religious population, and his Wesleyan and temperance connections, were crucial to both his beliefs and political skills.
Williamson supported the eight hours movement, a national education system based on religious instruction rather than 'godless atheism', and dispensed government funds for relief works during the frequent hiccups in the trade cycle.
Williamson's electoral successes derived from his appeal to the broken-down pensioners of Howick and Onehunga, struggling Aucklanders of the lower orders, the extractive workers and small farmers of the marginal settlements of the province and, later, the goldminers of Coromandel and Thames.
WILLIAMSON, WILLIAM CRAWFORD (1816-1895), English naturalist, was born at Scarborough on the 24th of November 1816.
Young Williamson's maternal grandfather was a lapidary, and from him he learnt the art of cutting stones, an accomplishment which he found of great use in later years, when he undertook his work on the structure of fossil plants.
Williamsons work in fossil botany was scarcely appreciated at the time as it deserved, for its great merits were somewhat obscured by the authors want of familiarity with the modern technicalities of the science.
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