William Larnach

William James Mudie Larnach CMG (27 January 1833 – 12 October 1898) was a New Zealand businessman and politician. He is known for building Larnach Castle and for his suicide.

Larnach was born in the Hunter Region, north of Sydney, Australia, the son of John Larnach, a station owner and Emily (née Mudie). His early work was in farming and gold-digging, but he later gained employment with the Bank of New South Wales, and eventually became a branch manager. He married Eliza Jane Guise in 1859.

In 1866, he took a position as general manager of the Bank of Otago, based in Dunedin, New Zealand. He soon became quite prosperous, gathering large amounts of money through land speculation, farming investments, and a timber business. Between 1873 and 1887, Larnach constructed a large mansion, on the ridge of Otago Peninsula. Originally named "The Camp" by Larnach, it is now known as "Larnach Castle". Larnach himself took up residence in 1874. He was appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in the 1879 Birthday Honours.

Although Larnach's property investments performed well, he was less successful in his banking career. The Bank of Otago's decline, which Larnach had been employed to reverse, continued unabated, and the Bank was eventually bought by the National Bank of New Zealand. The new owners were critical of Larnach's management, and accused him of dishonourable dealings — in 1884, this broke out into a public feud.

Larnach entered politics in 1875, standing in a by-election in the electorate of Caversham. On this occasion, he was defeated by his opponent, Robert Stout. Several months later, however, he was elected to the City of Dunedin electorate. In 1877, at the behest of his South Island colleagues, he introduced a successful no-confidence motion against Harry Atkinson, the Premier of the day. Under the new Premier, George Grey, Larnach was appointed Treasurer (now Minister of Finance). He later undertook a long trip to England to arrange a government loan, although he also took advantage of the opportunity to launch a new business venture, the New Zealand Agricultural Company. Larnach's farming investments were turning sour due to the rabbit problems, and Larnach sought to sell his lands to British investors—this prompted considerable condemnation in New Zealand, as Larnach was seen as trying to deceive the British as to the quality of the investments. The New Zealand Agricultural Company was not a success, and the affair cost Larnach many friends and allies in New Zealand.

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