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.
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]
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 OlympicsinLos Angeles, Waters was unable to afford to attend.[5]
Waters later served as chairman of the Hamilton Rowing Club for almost 25 years.[5]
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]In1954, 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]
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]
^"The general election, 1943". Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives: 26–27. 1944. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
^ abcdNorton, Clifford (1988). New Zealand parliamentary election results, 1946–1987. Wellington: Victoria University of Wellington Department of Political Science. ISBN0-475-11200-8.
