Register (Adelaide, SA : 1901 - 1929), Tuesday 25 June 1912, page 5


AN OLD EX-LEGISLATOR. Death of Mr. L. L. Furner. A former legislator and Minister of the Crown in South Australia, in the person of Mr. Luke Lidiard Furner, passed away at his residence, Prospect, on Monday, aged 74. Born at Lymington, in Hampshire, England, in 1837, Mr. Furner, on attaining his majority, sailed for Melbourne in the ship Mermaid. He came on to Adelaide, and subsequently was in business at Goolwa and Moonta. At the latter place he founded the auctioneering firm of Moody, Furner, and Co., in which he remained until the dis-solution of partnership in 1885. During 14 years at the mining town he filled many public offices. He was a member of the town council several times, and was chosen as Mayor on three occasions. He was also Worshipful Master of the local Lodge of Freemasons. —Political Life.— Mr. Furner first sought parliamentary honours in 1878, when he was returned at the head of the poll for Wallaroo, with the late Sir R. D. Ross and Mr. C. S. Hare as his confreres. At the two next elections— 1881 and 1884— he was again selected for the same district. In 1883 Mr. Furner was made Chairman of Committees on the death of Mr. W. Townsend, but in the new Par-liament of the next year he was dis-placed from that position. On the reassembling of Parliament in May, 1886, the Downer Ministry was re-constructed on account of Mr. Simp-son Newland having resigned the Trea-surership. In the following Bray Govern-ment Mr. Furner filled the office of Commis-sioner of Public Works. The general elec-tion of 1890 saw his defeat for the Wallaroo seat by Mr. H. A. Grainger. He stood for Yorke's Peninsula, but failed to secure elec-tion. Mr. Furner was appointed Secretary to the Mining Commission in succession to Mr. Grainger in May, 1890. In 1881 he was a member of a Parliamentary party, headed by the late Hon. J. L. Parsons, as Minis-ter of Education of the day, which visited the Northern Territory. He was the last survivor of that band, which included, be-sides Mr. Parsons, Messrs. H. E. Bright and J. T. Bagster, M.P.'s, and Professor Tate. During his Parliamentary career Mr. Fur-ner acted on many select committees. He was in 1885 the chief of the triumvirate that reduced the estimates of expenditure for the Downer Government by £80,000 in civil servants and members' salaries. He was not a brilliant speaker, but was a man greatly esteemed by his comrades in the House of Assembly, and by his political op-ponents. He was an apostle of water con-servation, and by his advocacy of general progressive measures abundantly justified the wisdom of his constituents in returning him again and again to Parliament. For a number of years Mr. Furner had lived a retired life. He has left a widow. The golden wedding of Mr. and Mrs. Furner was celebrated at their home on June 17. On account of the low condition of Mr. Fur-ner's health the event was confined to mem-bers of the family. Mrs. Furner was for-merly Miss Jane Elizabeth Jones, a daugh-ter of the late Mr. Thomas Jones, of Goolwa, and was married in 1862.