Alfred Dillon

Dillon was from humble origins in Wales before moving to New Zealand in 1857.^[2] There, he worked for years as a farm labourer, bullock driver and carrier before acquiring land; he was a rarity amongst Liberals as a runholder with about 3,500 acres (14 km²). A poor speaker and sneered at by William Russell as illiterate, he appealed as a "man of the people" who had made his way by his own efforts. He retained the image of the rugged pioneer; short, barrel-chested, bushy-bearded and usually clad in thick country tweeds.^[1]

Dillon won the Hawkes Bay electorate in 1905, beating the oligarchical Leader of the Opposition William Russell, but was defeated six years later in 1911.^[3] He was 64 years old when he entered Parliament and was known affectionately as "Dad" by other Liberal members.^[4]

• Hamer, David A. (1988). The New Zealand Liberals: The Years of Power, 1891–1912. Auckland: Auckland University Press. ISBN 1-86940-014-3.

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