EARLY DAYS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 238, 8 October 1936, Page 3

EARLY DAYS.

AUSTRALIA-NEW ZEALAND. Mr. Ching presided over an interested attendance at the lecture room of the Auckland Working Men's Club last evening, when Mr. J. J. Sullivan gave a lecture on stirring incidents in early Australian and New Zealand history. Mr. Sullivan dealt with the convict days in West Australia, recalling the life of John Boyle O'Reilly, his contributions to literature and his subsequent distinguished career in Boston, U.S.A. The lecturer recalled the work of a NewZealand engineer, Mr. O'Connor, in the construction of a famous water supply from Mundaring to Kalgoorlie, by a pipe line 359 miles in length, with an elevation of 1300 feet. The vision of Sir George Grey, as Governor of South Australia, at the age of 28, the' great work of Sir Charles Gavin Duffy, Prime Minister of Victoria, who was tried for sedition ill 1844 and convicted in Dublin with Daniel O'Connell, the conviction being subsequently quashed by the House of Lords, and his later becoming Prime Minister of the State of Victoria, were recalled. Early days in New South Wales, Queensland and Tasmania were touched on, and the interesting lives of the Rev. John Dunmore Lang, who visioned an independent Nation of Australia, in perfect friendliness to Britain, the daring exploits of Sir Richard Hayes, Bart., an early convict. The remarkable careers of Daniel Henry Dennehy, the first native born solicitor in New South Wales, William B. Dally, who sent the first contingent from a British possession to assist Britain in a war in which she was engaged. Richard Dennis Meagher. Dr. Kelvin Izod O'Doherty, John Mitchell. William Smith O'Brien and Thomas Francis Meagher were interestingly dealt with. Touching early New Zealand, incidents prior to. the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, and subsequent, were recalled, and the attitude of the British House of Commons toward the Treaty, as embodied in the Act of 1846. was explained. A hearty vote of thanks to the lecturer was carried.