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 Zealand, and was one of the agitators in favour of the separation of that province from Wellington. He was for some years Superintendent of Hawke's Hay, and in 1861 was returned to the General Assembly, and sat, with the exception of a three years' interval, till 1890. In the Ministry Mr. Ormond was Minister of Public Works from Dec. 1871 to Sept. 1872, and acted in the same capacity in the Waterhouse Ministry in Oct. 1872. When Major Atkinson assumed the premiership, after the departure of, Mr. Ormond acted as Secretary for Crown Lands and Minister for Immigration from Sept. 1st to Sept. 13th, 1876, and upon its reconstitution succeeded Sir Frederick Whitaker as Postmaster-General and Commissioner of Telegraphs (Dec. 1876 to Oct. 1877). In 1891 he was called to the Upper House.

O'Rorke, Sir George Maurice, B.A., late Speaker of the House of Representatives, New Zealand, third son of the late Rev. John O'Rorke of Moylough, co. Galway, by Elizabeth Dennis, sister of the late John Dennis, of Benningham House, Tuam, was born in 1830, and educated at Trinity College, Dublin, where he graduated B.A. in 1852. In the same year he emigrated to Victoria, and two years later settled in New Zealand, where he was called to the Bar in 1868. In 1857 Mr. O'Rorke was appointed Clerk of the Auckland Provincial Council, and in 1861 was elected to the General Assembly to represent Onehunga, for which constituency he continued to sit till 1882, when it was merged in the electoral district of Manukau (for which he was returned uninterruptedly till 1890). Mr. O'Rorke was an ardent provincialist, and was Speaker of the Auckland Provincial Council from 1865 to 1876, and for some time Deputy-Superintendent. In 1871 he succeeded Mr. Carleton as Chairman of Committees in the House of Representatives, and was reappointed in 1875 and 1876. He was Secretary for Crown Lands and Minister for Immigration in the Waterhouse, and  Ministries (which were, in effect, the same Ministry), from Oct. 1872 to August 1874, when, not being able to agree with Mr. Vogel's project to abolish the provinces, he resigned. Under the premiership of Mr. O'Rorke was appointed to the Speakership of the House of Representatives in July 1879, in succession to Sir. This post he held until Parliament was dissolved at the end of 1890. Sir Maurice O'Rorke has been a member of the Board of Education, and is chairman of the Board of Governors of the Auckland Grammar School. He was also Chairman of the Royal Commission (1879-80) to inquire into the operations of the University of New Zealand and the secondary schools of the colony in relation to the University, and was elected first chairman of the Council of Auckland University College in 1883. He was made a knight-bachelor in 1880. Sir Maurice married Cecilia Mary, daughter of the late Alexander Shepherd, sometime Colonial Treasurer of New Zealand.

O'Shanassy, Hon. Sir John, K.C.M.G., sometime Premier of Victoria, was born in 1818 near Thurles, co. Tipperary, Ireland, and arrived in Victoria with his wife in 1839. He started business in Melbourne, was one of the founders of St. Patrick's Society, and for many years represented the Roman Catholic body on the denominational board of education. He was appointed one of the trustees of the Public Library. In 1856 he was one of the chief promoters of the Colonial Bank, and acted as chairman of its board of directors for fourteen years. When the colony was separated from New South Wales, in 1851, Mr. O'Shanassy was returned to the first Legislative Council as one of the members for Melbourne, and became the virtual leader of the opposition to the official and nominee element in that body. Mr. O'Shanassy, who had been one of the strongest advocates of separation from New South Wales, now became one of the warmest champions of the establishment of responsible government and of the anti-transportation movement. During the troubles which ensued on the attempt to enforce the gold diggers' licence Mr. O'Shanassy was one of the six members of the royal commission which was appointed by to inquire into the condition of the goldfields of Victoria. He was also one of the members of the committee appointed by the Council to report upon the best form of a constitution for the colony. At the elections for the first Legislative Assembly, in Sept. 1856, Mr. O'Shanassy was re-elected for Melbourne, 358