- 1997 first edition, 268 pages
- Published cy David Bateman, NZ
- Hardcover with dust jacket, green boards
- Very good condition, minor wear to dust jacket, edge of boards.
Name on ffep.
- Inscribed and signed 'love Fleur'
Illustrated and index included. Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction, and in the life of William Larnach, nineteenth-century gusinessman and politician, this is certainly true.
After years of research, author Fleur Snedden has uncovered an extraordinary man with an intriguing story. The result is a fascinating biography of an early New Zealander whos life covers a dynamic period of our history, when a young colony was developing into a nation and speculative business ventures, some successful, others spectacularly not so, abounded.
In New Zealand William Larnach is perhaps best remembered for the home he build on the Otago Peninsula, known as Larnach Castle. He also hs the tragic distinction of being the only politician to commit suicide in Parliament building.
Larnach and his family arrived in Dunedin from Australia in 1867, when he was thirty-four. The building of the Castle began in 1871, just twenty years after the settlement of Otago. Larnach's business interests included banking, inducsty, land speculation, and politics. There were times when his integrity was questioned. He was a clever man but his enterprise and optimism were often marred by misfortune.
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