Ben Waters

Edward Arthur "Ben" Waters (13 October 1907 – 30 October 1992) was a New Zealand rower who won two medals at the 1930 British Empire Games. He later unsuccessfully stood as a Labour parliamentary candidate at several elections.

Ben Waters
Waters in 1960
Personal information
Birth nameEdward Arthur Waters
Born(1907-10-13)13 October 1907
Marton, New Zealand
Died30 October 1992(1992-10-30) (aged 85)
Weight76 kg (168 lb)[1]
Spouse(s)
Kathleen Mary Dobson
​
​
(m. 1933; died 1973)​
Sport
CountryNew Zealand
SportRowing
ClubHamilton Rowing Club
Medal record
Men's rowing
Representing  New Zealand
British Empire Games
Gold medal – first place 1930 Hamilton Coxed four
Silver medal – second place 1930 Hamilton Eight
Rugby union career
Position(s) Forward
Provincial / State sides
Years Team Apps (Points)
1929 Waikato 2 (0)

Early life and family

Born at Marton on 13 October 1907, Waters was the son of Thomas Edward Waters and Grace Hannah Eliza Waters (née Mainwaring).[2][3] He married Kathleen Mary Dobson on 12 August 1933,[4] and the couple went on to have five children.[5]

Sporting career

Rowing

A member of the Hamilton Rowing Club, Waters began rowing as a 17-year-old.[6] In 1929 he was a member of the Hamilton four that won the national championship.[6] In March of the following year, he participated in a trial race for selection of the New Zealand team to compete at the 1930 British Empire Games in Hamilton, Ontario, but was not initially chosen for the 12-man squad.[7] However, he was included in the final squad selected in late June,[8] and competed in both the men's eight and coxed four at the 1930 Empire Games.[9] He won a gold medal in the coxed four, alongside Mick Brough, Jack Macdonald, Bert Sandos, and Arthur Eastwood (cox), and a silver medal in the eights, finishing three-quarters of a boat length behind the victorious English crew.[10]

Selected for the New Zealand rowing squad to compete at the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, Waters was unable to afford to attend.[5]

Waters later served as chairman of the Hamilton Rowing Club for almost 25 years.[5]

Other sports

Waters played two rugby union matches as a forward at a provincial level for Waikato in 1929, and was later a Waikato rugby administrator.[5][11][12][13] He also played representative cricket and tennis.[5]

Politics

Waters was a carpenter and union organiser,[14] and was described as an "incisive critic of National Party policy".[11] During World War II he was serving as a leading aircraftman in the Royal New Zealand Air Force when he stood as the Labour Party candidate for the Waitomo electorate at the 1943 general election.[15] He finished second, 1881 votes behind the National Party incumbent, Walter Broadfoot.[16]

At the 1946 general election, Waters contested the newly created Piako electorate, losing by 5111 votes to Stan Goosman of the National Party.[17] Waters stood for Labour in the Hamilton electorate at the 1951 election, but was defeated by National's incumbent MP, Hilda Ross, by 2252 votes.[17] In 1954, Waters again stood against Ross in Hamilton, reducing her majority to 1430.[17] Following Ross's death in 1959, Waters contested the resulting by-election, but lost to Lance Adams-Schneider from National by 2988 votes.[17]

Later life and death

Waters became a builder and building supervisor.[5] He lived in retirement in Hamilton,[5] and was predeceased by his wife, Kathleen, in 1973.[18] Waters himself died on 30 October 1992, and he was buried at Hamilton East Cemetery.[19]

References
  1. "For Canada: N.Z. rowing team". Auckland Star. 23 June 1930. p. 9. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  2. "Canadian passenger lists, 1865–1935". Ancestry.com Operations. 2010. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
  3. "Birth index registration number 1907/21873". Births, deaths & marriages online. Department of Internal Affairs. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
  4. "Marriage index registration number 1933/4776". Births, deaths & marriages online. Department of Internal Affairs. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
  5. Field, Kingsley (17 January 1990). "A sorry time for sport". The New Zealand Herald. p. 9.
  6. "Rowing: a wonderful record". Bay of Plenty Times. Vol. LVIII, no. 10376. 14 May 1930. p. 4. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
  7. "Test trial race". The New Zealand Herald. 24 March 1930. p. 12. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
  8. "Empire Games: N.Z. rowing eight final selection". Northern Advocate. 23 June 1930. p. 6. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
  9. "Ben Waters". New Zealand Olympic Committee. 2016. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
  10. "Rowing". The Evening Post. 18 October 1930. p. 22. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
  11. "Election reviews". The New Zealand Herald. 29 October 1946. p. 8.
  12. "Waikato players". Waikato Rugby Union. Archived from the original on 7 February 2013. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  13. "To-day's rugby match: Auckland and Waikato". The New Zealand Herald. 3 August 1929. p. 15. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  14. "Waitomo seat". Auckland Star. 19 June 1943. p. 6. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
  15. "Waitomo Labour nominee". Auckland Star. 5 July 1943. p. 5. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
  16. "The general election, 1943". Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives: 26–27. 1944. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
  17. Norton, Clifford (1988). New Zealand parliamentary election results, 1946–1987. Wellington: Victoria University of Wellington Department of Political Science. ISBN 0-475-11200-8.
  18. "Cemetery search". Hamilton City Council. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
  19. "Cemetery search". Hamilton City Council. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
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