William Swanson was a 19th century Member of Parliament in Auckland

Auckland

The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...

, New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

.

He represented the Newton

Newton (New Zealand electorate)

Newton was a 19th century parliamentary electorate in Auckland, New Zealand.-History:Newton existed from 1861 to 1893. It was created for the 3rd New Zealand Parliament and ran to the end of the 11th Parliament, and was represented by seven MPs:...

 electorate from 1871 to 1884, when he retired. He was a minister in the Vogel Ministry, 1876 and Grey Ministry 1877–1879 as a Member of the Executive Council. He was then appointed to the Legislative Council

New Zealand Legislative Council

The Legislative Council of New Zealand was the upper house of the New Zealand Parliament from 1853 until 1951. Unlike the lower house, the New Zealand House of Representatives, the Legislative Council was appointed.-Role:...

in 1885, a position he held until his death.