LAW OFFICE

Evening Post, Volume CXXXIX, Issue 123, 26 May 1945, Page 8

LAW OFFICE

SOLICITOR-GENERAL

MR. H. E.EVANS CHOSEN

The appointment of Mr. H. E. Evans, of Wellington, as Solicitor-General was announced today by the AttorneyGeneral (Mr. Mason). Mr. Evans, a member of the firm of Messrs. Bell, Gully, McKenzie, and Evans, succeeds Mr. H. H. Cornish, who was recently made a Judge of the Supreme Court. For over 40 years Mr. Evans has been associated with the well-known legal firm in the city that he is now leaving. The name of the firm when he entered the office was Bell, Gully, Bell, and Myers. He started as a junior clerk in 1903 attached to the late Sir Francis Bell's staff, and except for a visit to his native England in 1909, he remained a member of Sir Francis Bell's staff until 1910, when he became common law clerk to the firm and was attached to the staff of Mr. Myers, now the Rt. Hon. Sir Michael Myers'. Chief Justice, In 1922 he became a partner in the firm. His service under such prominent members of the New Zealand Bar was a valuable experience for Mr. Evans. It was experience that has stood him in good stead, and he acknowledges freely that he owes a great deal to Sir Francis Bell, his brother. Mr. Ernest Bell, and to Sir Michael Myers. Although the work Mr. Evans has undertaken has not led to his making frequent appearances in cases before the Courts, he has successfully combined Court and

office practice, and has appeared in a number of cases in the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal. His experience has covered a wide range of legal work. He is highly regarded by his fellow-members of the legal profession, not only for his ability but also for his courteous and gentlemanly manner.

Mr. Evans was born in Sudbury, Suffolk, in 1884, and his family came to live in New Zealand in 1902. His father, the late Captain E. J. Evans, was well known in Wellington, where from 1902 to 1915 he was marine superintendent of the Shaw, Savill, and Albion Company. Before that his father had served in the company's ships. Mr. Evans was educated at Whitgift Grammar School, Croydon, Surrey, and at Victoria University College in Wellington. He graduted B.A. in 1906 and LL.M. in 1910. He gained further distinction as a student of Victoria College by winning the Bowen Prize in 1905. and the MacMillan-Brown Prize in 1906. In 1907 he was editor of "Spike," the college magazine. He was also prominent at Victoria College as a debater, winning the Union Prize in 1907 for most points in debates for that year, and in the following year, with Mr. John Mason, who is a solicitor living in Napier, he won the Joynt Scroll for debating at the inter-un iversity tournament. In 1911 Mr. Evans was admitted a barrister'and solicitor of the Supreme Court. The next year he married Miss E. M. Harman, daughter of Mr. F. B. Harman, of London, and he has two sons.

Mr. Evans is also well known in Anglican Church circles. He has been a member of the Wellington Diocesan Synod since 1916, and since 1925 of the General Synod. Mr. Evans is a lay canon of the Wellington Cathedral Chapter, and has been a member of the standing committee of the Wellington diocese for many years.