NEW MAGISTRATE.

Press, Volume LXIX, Issue 20905, 12 July 1933, Page 10

NEW MAGISTRATE.

APPOINTMENT OF MR W. F. STILWELL. DISTINGUISHED WAR SERVICE. i.THE PRESS Speslal Senrice.j AUCKLAND, July 11. Confirmation has been received from Wellington to-day of the appointment of Mr W. F. Stilwell. Mayor of Mount Albert, to be a stipendiary magistrate. The appointment is to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Mr T. B. MacNeil, of Wellington. Mr Stilwell probably will enter upon his new duties in Wellington in a fortnight. Mr Stilwell is 42 years of age, and apart from his long war service he has scent practically all his life in Auckland. He began his legal career in the service of the firm nowstyled as Jackson, Russell, Tunks, and West, with whom he was associated for 10 years, before the war. He left New Zealand with the Mam Bodv in 1914 as a sergeant in the Divisional Signal Corps, and continued on active service for four and a-haif years. He won his commission on the field at Gallipoh, and later was decorated with the Militarv Cross for gallantry at Messines. He returned to New Zealand with the rank of captain, and has since continued to take a keen interest in military affairs. With the rank of major, he commanded the fourth howitzer battery from to 1930, and the first field artillery brigade from 1930 until the present time with rank of lieutenant-colonel. He has received the Colonial Forces' Auxiliary Officers' decoration. At the end of the war, Mr Stilwell filled the position of managing clerk for his old firm for 18 months, and then set up in partnership with Mr T. H. Dawson in the legal firm of Dawson and Stilwell. In recent vears, Mr Stilwell has been prominent in municipal and other public activities. His new appointment will necessitate his resignation from the Mayoraltv of Mount Albert, and an early bv-election to fill the vacancy. His able public service has commended itself in many spheres, and his transference to another city will leave a gap that will be widely regretted. _____