Page:The Dictionary of Australasian Biography.djvu/507

 Walsh, Hon. William Henry, M.L.C., was born in Oxfordshire in Dec. 1825. He arrived in New South Wales in 1844, and was returned to the Legislative Assembly of that colony for one of the northern constituencies in 1859. He was engaged in squatting pursuits in what ultimately became the colony of Queensland, and after separation took place he was returned to the Queensland Legislative Assembly in 1865. He was Minister of Works in the Ministry from May 1870 to July 1873, and in the next year was returned for the Warrego, and acted as Speaker of the Legislative Assembly from Jan. 1874 to July 1876, when he resigned. He was appointed a member of the Legislative Council in Feb. 1879. He died on April 5th, 1888.

Walstab, George Arthur, is the son of A. J. G. Walstab, formerly a planter in Demerara, West Indies, and was born in 1834. He went to the colony of Victoria   with his father in 1852, and served in the    Mounted Police as a cadet for ten years. He paid a visit to India in 1857, and  served in Richardson's Horse during the  latter portion of the Mutiny. Mr. Walstab  joined the Calcutta Englishman newspaper in 1860, and was sub-editor and  editor until 1865, when he returned to  Australia and joined the Melbourne press. In 1874 he was appointed secretary to  the Minister of Lands, and held that  appointment until the reductions in the  Civil Service in 1880. Mr. Walstab has  written several novels, amongst them  "Confessed at Last," "Pierce Charlton's  Wives," "Looking Back," and "Standing  at Bay." He was for a time editor of  the Castlemaine Representative, and afterwards of the Melbourne Herald, to which  he still contributes.

Want, John Henry, M.L.A., was admitted to practise as a barrister in New South Wales in Nov. 1869, and represents Paddington in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly. He was Attorney-General in the first Ministry from Oct. to Dec. 1885, and in the  Government from Feb. 1886 to Jan. 1887.

Warburton, Major Peter Egerton, H.E.I.C.S., C.M.G., fourth son of the Rev. Rowland Egerton Warburton, of Arley Hall, Cheshire, by his marriage with Emma, daughter of James Croxton, was born on August 15th, 1813, at Arley Hall, and was primarily educated in France. In 1826 he entered the royal navy, and  in 1829 proceeded to Addiscombe College,  preparatory to entering the East India  Company's service, in which he remained  from 1831 until 1853, when he retired  with the rank of major. He emigrated  to Western Australia, arriving at Albany  in July 1853; but went to Adelaide in  September, and at the end of the year  was appointed Commissioner of Police. This position he held till 1867, and in  1869 he became Colonel Commandant of  the South Australian Volunteer Force, a  position from which he retired in 1877. He was subsequently placed in charge  of the Imperial Pension Department. Between 1856 and 1874 Major Warburton  conducted several exploring expeditions. In April 1873 he started from Adelaide  on an expedition across the continent  with seventeen camels, three Europeans  and two Afghans. His route lay across  the sandhills that baffled the brothers Gregory; but with the aid of the camels, and by his own indomitable energy, he succeeded in reaching an out-station in Western Australia. Nine months and a half had been occupied in making the terrible journey of nine hundred miles. During the latter part of their wanderings the party subsisted on the flesh of the worn-out camels, and on rare occasions on a few wallabies which they got from the natives. For his services as an explorer Warburton obtained the Royal Geographical Society's medal, with a vote from the South Australian Parliament of £1000 for himself and £500 for his party. Sir Thomas Elder sent him to England, and published the narrative of his explorations, and he was created a C.M.G. in 1875. Major Warburton married, in Oct. 1838, Alicia, daughter of H. Mant, of Bath. He died on Dec. 16th, 1889.

Ward, Crosbie, a well-known New Zealand politician, was the third son of the late Hon. and Rev. Henry Ward, rector of Kilhirchy, county Down, Ireland, by his marriage with Anne, daughter of Rev. Henry Mahon, and grandson of Hon. Edward Ward and Lady Arabella (Crosbie) his wife, daughter of the first Earl of Glandore. His father's eldest brother became the third Viscount Bangor, and Mr. Crosbie Ward was first cousin to the late Sir, K.C.M.G. (q.v.). He was born in 1833, and was educated 491