NEW GOVERNORGENERAL.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 18204, 15 October 1924, Page 13

NEW GOVERNORGENERAL.

jHS DISTINGUISHED MILITARY CAREER. iff ADMIRABLE SELECTION. ( rR 0U OCS C'.TS COBEESrOKPIST.) . LONDON, September 4. Uthough General Sir Charles Forci».Bt.,IXJ>.,K.C.B.,K.C.M.G.. ngO M.V.0., is not yet personally known't<> many New Zoalanders ii England, tho feeling is unanimous that the choice of this distinguished Arm> officer to succeed Lord Jellicoc as Gov ernor-Oeneral, will prove to be a vcr. laopy » nc - Tb- e connexion of his aw. fanriiy *" { k *k° Dominion seems t. bring him very near to it and it., people, and all who, during tho war «7tcood the progress and heard of the tno record put up by its more reioovsibie officers, lollowed interestedly tie achievements and their conscquen. " an ja that so deservedly camo to the o*nrnander of tho sth Division win Subsequently commanded the 2nd and 17th Army Corps Vn officer who happens to know bn Charleß Fergusson very intimately and *ho also knows tho Dominion and its oeoplo, remarked to me: "I think New Glanders will liko their now GovernorGeneral. Hois tho most hard-working and conscientious man I know, and he noB6efSC3 <reat charm of manner as well L good looks. Official records te-11 of l.u distinguished career as a soldier. He was one of tho Divisional Generals (sth Division) in the Retreat from Mons and he is one of tho very few «neral officers in that glorious episode fl'ko wrved continuously at tho front for the rest of tho war, and who commanded a corps ill the final retreat of tho Germans." From 1918 till 1919 ],e was 3tilitary Governor of the occupied German territory. Then, of course, there is tho previous association with New Zealand which his wife, Lady Alice Fergusson, had tome 'twenty-seven years ago, when her father was Governor. At that time the L»d»s Augusta, Alice, and Dorothy BotJp wero girb in their 'teens, and thev vrcre exceedingly popular from north to south. Therefore, she will be wek-omed by many old friends when translated to tho more exalted; oosition of the Governor-Gener-al's wife "I am naturally | fsry much interested," Lady Alice: bvh "in returning to New Zealand, aa 1 have the most delightful roeollections of the country, and 1 am much looking forward to revisiting it with my own *Thero are three sons aud ono d&ujditer. Tho heir, James, was born in 1904. Some Personal Characteristics. ; Having referred to tho new Governor- [ Onetal as " a handsome Grenadier Gnardsroan of 39," a commentator ufc "He inherits the social bonhomie !; u well as the Guards' tradition of his £ ittber, "who belonged to the Colonel ! ; fcweomc sehool of St. James's club- [; un.''. •■ h ■ A''writerin the "Evening [f IhinKs'tSafc the appointment of Sir | been somewhat unI for when tho General was our '• first Huh'tary governor in Cologne ho laid down the law pretty bluntly to some members of the Labour Party who were -visiting there, explaining to them that he was pleased to welcome them if "they obeyed the regulations ho had introduced, but if they did not conform h© wraW prefer them to leavo the district. All tlie same, what really happened, I think, was that the general's ivm attitude gained the respect of tAcso labourites. Ho hae other attributes which make him popular when ho becomes known, and he possesses the thoroughness which is highly regarded by soldiers of all ranks, even when it is accompanied by severity. He did wiy well at Mons and at Arras, and on j the whole was ono of our most success- j fill eotps commanders in tho war." A Bival Eemoved. fie Glasgow "Evening News" finds ii of inTerest to note that General Sir »Charles Fcrgusson's appointment is another instance of the Labour Gc/vernocnt's selection of non-members of tßeir aide of politics to positions under the Crown Sir Charles received tho Ukb. degree to Glasgow University in ■lime last along with the Primo Minister. Sitting alongside the Premier, his was a ulstinguished figure, Betting off well tbe academic robes worn over his military uniform. Not only was the i Ww GoyernorvGeneral not of the Gov- ; «nmen£ Party, but ho was a prospecI tive candidate against one of its distinjEuishcd members, Mr James Brown, M'P., Lord High Commissioner to the —JtteraT Assembly." KotaWe Ayrshire rainily. !\ Sir Charles Fergusson, eeventh Bar•tot of Kilkerran, represents a family ;-.:'.,*wh has been seated in Ayrshire since 'the tjays of King Eobert Bruce, Their '■ toctstpr Fergus, son of Fergus, ob- , tabled a charter of certain lanUs from • w monarch, whoso Ayrshiro seat of Castle, now a ruin, is about Wvcn miles from Kilkerran. Fergus ; Wrgusson had a Crown charter of Kil«*rran in 1466, on the resignation of Ma father, sir John Fergusson of Kil«rran suffered heavily for his adherJBeo to Charles I. He contracted largo <wts to raise men for the service of tho ***g, and had his estate sequestered ■y.Cremwell. During tho Coruniou***lth (according to Nisbet), he re--'jred abroad, returning at the BestoraTho tenth laird eold Kilkerran to jj*a eousjn, Sir John Fergusson, first g*«net of Kilfecrran, so created by v>wn Anne in 1703. lie had been. '♦Bed to the Scottish Bar, became an wocate of much reputation, and J»aßsed enough money to clear off the W>ta on the property. The second "Vonet, too, Was a la\vycr, and attaints the Bench in 1749 as Lord KilJccr* ** n - One of his younger sons also be**»e a Judge, with tho title of Lord «Mmand. pis eldest son, Sir Adam, wd Baronet, was M.P. successively ■■'■♦fr th * County of Ayr and the city Burns,"in his "Earnest S? and Prayer," thus compliments % AdMn:— "Thee, aith-dctcsting, chaste KilJBj* AcUm Fergusson was, in 1700, an ?*«eesßfnl claimant for the Larldom His nephew, Sir James fourth Baronet, was married and had nineteen children. His 1 W wifo W3s a daughter of Sir David Baronet (Lord Hailes), !r^ n Sa which marriage the csUte of *whailes nltimatelv came to the ForThe fifth Baronet, Sir Charles JJ*wJiHple Fergusson, married a daughJ* of Xord-President Boyle, who is •ttothe great-grandfather of the pre""•t Baronet's, wife, Lady Alice FerSir Charles was succeeded in *«• Baronetcy bv the late Sir James, *We diatinguished career is still fresh ™Wr recollections. Sir James's next ?*«% succeeded to "'the Newhailes "wtts, and 400k the name of DalHe reeeived a Baronetcy in gffj now enjoyed bv his pon; sat TjM House of Commons for 37 years, 2* o»4 been a Lord of the Treasury. J* 8 Present Baronet is the seventeenth 7S* •« Kilkerran. I afcSi Wan llousc is beautifully situ- | iS, 0 ' 1 the banks of the Girvan, in At the back of the S«L. *JT~*~ ~- at foot of next column.)