MANNING, WALTER (1854-1929) was born in London, attended school to the age of 13, and was apprenticed to a London engineering shop. He then went to sea as an apprentice with his uncle in the barque Warren Hastings and sailed later in the Isabella Blythe to the East Indies. In 1873 he left his ship, the Duke of Edinburgh, in Wellington, and joined the ketch Clematis trading on the coast. He served in several other larger ships before joining the Government steamer Luna. He gained a home trade master's certificate in the ketch Falcon and became captain of the Shepherdess and the Otaki. He was then mate of the New Zealand Shipping Co.'s Jane Douglas (1876) and commanded the Stormbird before joining the Union Steamship Co. in 1881. He commanded their vessels for 36 years, including 23 years in charge of the Lyttelton-Wellington steamers Penguin, Rotomahana, Marama and Maori. Manning wrote Below and Above the Water Line and Interned. He died on 12 Feb 1929.

The Dominion and The Press, 14 Feb 1929 (p)

Reference: Volume 2, page 28

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