Mr. Arthur Robert Guinness, Chairman of Committees of the House of Representatives, is the member for the Grey Electoral District. He was born in 1846 in Calcutta, and arrived at Lyttelton by the ship “Tory,” in August, 1852. His father, the late Mr. Frank Guinness, who died in 1892, was warden at Collingwood, and afterwards Resident Magistrate at Ashburton. The member for Grey attended the Christchurch College and Grammar School when the Venerable Dean Jacobs was headmaster. On leaving school he chose the law for his profession, and was articled in Christchurch to Mr. Edward Harston, who afterwards sold his business to Messrs. Garrick and Cowlishaw, and Mr. Guinness completed his articles with that firm. At the age of twenty-one Mr. Guinness was admitted a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court, and some years later was appointed a notary public. Almost immediately after admission he left for the West Coast, where he settled in Greymouth and commenced the practice of his profession, founding the well known firm of Guinness and Warner, which afterwards became Guinness and Kitchingham. Mr. J. E. Warner, who studied law with the subject of this notice, became a partner in the business in 1876. Mr. H. W. Kitchingham, who succeeded Mr. Warner in the firm in 1894, was also articled to Mr. Guinness. The Chairman of Committees first entered the political arena as a member of the Westland Provincial Council in 1872; he remained in the Council until the abolition of Provincial Governments in 1876. On the establishment of the Grey County Council, Mr. Guinness was elected as one of the first members, and became chairman of that body, a position which he held for eight years. In 1881 he was returned to the House as member for the Grey Electoral District, which he has continuously represented to the present time. On the resignation of Mr. W. L. Rees as Chairman of Committees, in 1893, Mr. Guinness was appointed to the office, and has been since re-elected without opposition. As a member of Greymouth Friendly Societies, he is attached to the Oddfellows', Foresters', and Druids' Lodges, but his important public duties have precluded his acceptance of office. Mr. Guinness was married, in 1875, to Miss Westbrook, daughter of Mr. James Westbrook, of Launceston.