NEW YEAR HONOURS

Dominion, Volume 23, Issue 83, 2 January 1930, Page 11

NEW YEAR HONOURS

SIR JOSEPH WARD RECEIVES G.C.M.G. KNIGHTHOODS FOB CHIEF JUSTICE AND HON. T. K. SIDEY MR. ROBERT PARKER’S SERVICES TO MUSIC RECOGNISED By Telegraph.—Press Association. Auckland, December 31. An announcement has been issued by His Excellency the Governor-General (Sir Charles Fergusson) to the effect that His Majesty the King has been graciously pleased on the occasion of the New Year to confer the following honours upon the gentlemen named below: — Knight Grand Cross of the Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George (G.C.M.G.) — THE RIGHT HON. SIR JOSEPH WARD, Bart, K.C.M.G., M.P., Prime Minister. Knight Commander of the Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George (K.C.M.G.) — THE HON. MICHAEL MYERS, K.C., Chief Justice. Knight Bachelor. THE HON. THOMAS KAY SIDEY, M.L.C., AttorneyGeneral. Companion of the Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George (C.M.G.) — EDWARD WILLIAM KANE, Esq., Clerk of Parliaments, formerly Clerk of the House of Representatives. ROBERT PARKER, Esq., Organist, etc., of Wellington, for services to music. Commander of the Civil Division of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (C.8.E.) — ARTHUR ALBERT LUCKHAM, Esq.', Resident Commissioner of Niue Island.

SIR, JOSEPH WARD, G.C.M.G. The life story of the Hight Hon. Sir Joseph Ward, Prime Minister of New Zealand, is too well known to require more than the briefest outline on the occasion of his latest distinction. In his seventy-fourth year, Sir Joseph has behind him a long record of public service extending over four decades. He has twice filled the position of Prime Minister, his remarkable return to power in 1928 being still a fresh memory. Through ill-health he has been confined to-bed since October 3 last, but has been able at the same time to keep -lin active hold on the direction of the country’s affairs. Various honours have been conferred on Sir Joseph Ward' in his lifetime. These include a baronetcy, a K.C.M.G., a P.C., and an LL.D. SIR MICHAEL MYERS, K.C.M.G. The Hon. Sir Michael Myers, K.C., K.C.M.G., was appointed Chief Justice of New Zealand in succession to the late Hon. Sir Charles Skerrett in April last. An outstanding member of the legal profession, Sir Michael’s career has been one of brilliant achievement. Born in Motueka on September 7,1873, he is a son of the late Mr. J. Myers, founder of the firm of Messrs. J. Myers and Co., Ltd. He was educated at Thorndon School, Wellington College and Canterbury University College, distin- ■ guishing himself at the age of twelve • by winning—and topping the list in—a primary education board scholarship, of which at that time only sixe were awarded. He attended Wellington College for five years, and in addition to winning another primary education board scholarship obtained various college exhibitions and scholarships, including the Turnbull scholarship. In 1892 Sir Michael joined the staff of Messrs. Bell, Gully and Izard, and graduated LL.B, four years later. In March, 1897, he was admitted a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court, and in 1899 he was admited to partnership in the firm. He remained as a member of Messrs. Bell, Gully, Bell and Myers (altered in title in 1919 to Messrs. Bell, Gully, Myers and O'Leary) until September, 1922, when he became a King’s Counsel, and, in accordance with the terms of the Law Practitioners Amendment Act. 1915, he commenced practice on his own account as a barrister only. A long association with the Right Hon. Sir Francis Bell and the late Mr, H. Gully proved of great advantage ‘to Sir Michael, and immediately after his admission to the Bar in 1897 he gained a substantial practice/ both as barrister and solicitor, and for many years until 1910 he took a large proportion of Crown ra-os, both criminal and civil There we a few important civil cases in the tv. nty years prior to his elevation to the Chief Justiceship in which Sir Michael did not appear. In the “sugar” case in 1912 and 1913 he acted in conjunction with the late Sir Charles Skerrett, and in the “flour” case concerning Distributors Ltd. in 1924 he also appeared again in association ' .with Sir Charles Skerrett in the Supreme Court at Dunedin, and later in the Court of Appeal. In 1921 Sir Michael, appearing with Messrs. McVeigh and Johnstone, of Auckland, successfully defended the directors of the Dominion Portland Cement Company Ltd. in a claim against them by the liquidator for about £200,000 damages. ,Sir Michael has also conducted cases before the Privy Council. In 1911 he successfully appeared for the respondent in the case of Allardyce v. Allardyce, and in 1926 he appeared in six cases, including the “flour” case, in all of which he was successful. Sir Michael enjoyed a considerable amount of Parliamentary practice. He appeared for Mr. Hine in coraiection with the charges made by him in the House of Representatives in 1910. He also acted in various election petitions. He was in the Stratford election petition, Hine v. Masters, in 1920, in which the petitioner, for whom Sir Michael appeared. was successful. Mr. Masters, however. was returned at the new election. In the Western Maori election petition in 1923, Sir Michael and' Mr. H. F. O’Leary successfully appealed for the respondent. Sir Maui Pomade. In Royal Commissions, also, he took a prominent part, having conducted many cases, including the following: Wraliou and Ohine-

muri River Silting (1910) ; Auckland Tramway Brakes; Foxton Wharf and North Island Main Trunk Line Deviation ; Sale of Poverty Bay Meat Company’s Works. One''of the last civil cases in which he took part, and which lasted for eighteen days, was the arbitration to settle the value of the undertaking of the Hawera Electric Light Company for the purposes of a proposed purchase by the South Taranaki Electric Power Board. Sir Michael acted for the board.

For many years he was a member of the Wellington District Law Society, being twice vice-president and twice president. He was also a member of the Council of the New Zealand Law Society. For one year he represented Wellington and after the elevation of the late Sir Charles Skerrett to the Bench as Chief Justice, he represented Gisborne. He was a member for several years of the Council of Law Reporting, representing the Wellington District Law Society. He was also the foundation president of the .New Zealand Club. On the same day as he entered into ■ the partnership of Messrs. Bell, Gully, Bell, and Myers, August 2, 1899, Sir Michael married Miss Salem, daughter of the late Hon. Maurice Salom, M.L.C., of Adelaide, South Australia. SIR THOMAS SIDEY, K.B. The Hon. Sir Thomas Sidey, K. 8., Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, is best known in New Zealand'as the “father” of the Summer Time Act. Born in Dunedin, he received his early education at Napier and then attended Barrett’s Collegiate School in Dunedin, the Otago Boys’ High School, and Otago University. He graduated in arts and law and subsequently established the legal firm of Messrs. Sidey and Collier. In 1901 Sir Thomas entered Parliament as a Liberal representative for Dunedin Southland retained the seat until the time of his retirement at the end of the 1928 Parliament. In the House of Representatives he sponsored a number of legislative proposals, the chief of which was his Daylight Saving Bill, which after years of persistent fighting found its way in 1927 on to the Statute Book and is now a permanent law. For daylight saving city workers and sports bodies will ever thank its main advocate. Sir Thomas also was a pioneer in bringing before the House indeterminate sentence proposals in criminal cases. Other records associated with his earlier life in Parliament include the defeat by him, in successive divisions, of his own Government on the question of the withdrawal of the sinking funds of local bodies from the hands of their own sinking fund commissioners, irrespective of .whether the loans were Governmentguaranteed loans or not. Sir Thomas had moved to restrict the proposal to State-guaranteed loans. Outside of politics he has held many public offices of importance, among them being the following : Councillor and Mayor of the Caversham Borough Council, member of the Caversham School Committee and secretary and president of the Dunedin and Suburban School Committees’ Association, member. Vice-Chancellor and Chancellor of'*the University of Otago, chairman of the High Schools’ Board of Governors, treasurer and president of the Dunedin Horticultural Society, president of the Caversham Bowling Club, president of the St. Clair Golf Club, president of the Southern Football Club, president of the Caversham Harriers, and patron or president of the St. Kilda and Cnversham Tennis Clubs, the St. Kilda Cricket Club, the Hillside Workshops Cricket Club, the Hillside Miniature Rifle Club, and many other bodies. At the end of the 1928 Parliament Sir Thomas did not recontest the Dunedin South seat, it being his intention to retire from the field of active politics. With the return to office of the United Party, however, Sir Joseph Ward included Sir Thomas in his Cabinet ns Leader of the Legislative Council and Attorney-General, which offices he has since held. In the reallocation of portfolios last month following the Hon. T. M. Wilford’s appointment as High Commissioner for New Zealand in London, Sir Thomas was appointed also Minister of Justice. MR. E. W. KANE, C.M.G. Mr. Edward William Kane, C.M.G.. was born in Wellington, the youngest son of the late Henry Russell and Catherine Howard Kane, who were prominent early settlers in New Zealand, having arrived in Wellington in 1850. Of a family of six Mr. Kane is now the sole survivor. He was educated first at the Catholic School, Thorndon, and later nt a higher school directed by Mr. J. H. Brann. In those days there were no universities or colleges in Wellington. After leaving school Mr. Kane was articled to the late Mr. M. Ollivier. barrister and solicitor, and was his managing clerk for ten years. After a breakdown in health he joined the Parliamentary staff as a committee clerk in 1886. and has remained attached to the Legislative since. Mr. Kane has successively served as committee clerk, reader and clerk of Bills, second clerk-assistant, clerk-assist-ant, and for the last nine years has held the position of Clerk of the House of Representatives. Upon the death of Mr. A. F. Lowe. C.M.G.. Mr. Kane was last month appointed Clerk of Parliaments,

Clerk of Legislative Council, and Examiner of Standing Orders on Private Bills. Mr. Kane, who has had nearly 44 years’ continuous service, has now served longer than any official connected with Parliament,*although there are two officers alive on pension who were in the service before Mr. Kane, joined the Legislative Department. Last year Mr. Kane, who is a Justice of the Peace, was made a life member of the Wellington Racing Club, of which he is one of the oldest members, having been elected in the early ’eighties. In 1921 Mr. Kane married Mrs. Baume, the widow of F. E. Baume, K.C., of Auckland. DOYEN OF MUSICIANS The doyen of Wellington musicians, Mr. Robert Parker, whom the King has been pleased to honour, has held the respect and affection of the Wellington public for half a century, and though he considers that he has retired as a public figure, he is still (at 83) an active force in music in this city as a master pedagogue and as organist and choirmaster of St. Paul’s Pro-Cathedral. Not only lias he been esteemed for his sound musicianship, his musical erudition, and fine executive capacity, but he has personal qualities embodying many very special virtues, which have ensured him an honoured place for all time in the hearts and minds of his contemporaries, and have surrounded him in the autumn of his days with hosts of friends. With elderly folk the name of Robert Parker stands for all that is sane and elevating in music. For not only has he been an organist of rare ability, but for forty years he was Wellington’s leading choral conductor. It was under his baton that most of the great oratorios were originally sung in Wellington, and in that and other respects he has every right to be honoured—aye, and loved, as the grand old man of music in Wellington.

Mr. Parker was born in London in 1847, and received a very sound musical training in the metropolis at the hands of the late W. S. Hoyte and Scotson Clark. He studied the violin, organ, pianoforte, as well as choral work under these teachers, but eventually centred in the pianoforte and organ, whilst ?his knowledge of choral work enabled him to take a lead almost immediately upon his arrival in New Zealand. He gained a scholarship which ensured him the opportunity for further study at Queen’s College, Cambridge, where lie became-or-ganist. Subsequently he became professional assistant to Dr. W. 11. Monk, of King’s College, London. It was owing to a threatened decline in health that Mr. Parker elected to come to New Zealand in 1869. He first settled in Christchurch, where he was appointed organist and choirmaster at St. Michael’s Church, and though he was only a resident of the City of the Plains for some eight years, he made his presence felt, as a conductor, aud under his baton several first performances of famous works were given in Christchurch.' In 1878 he was appointed organist and choirmaster at St. Paul’s Pro-Cathedral, Wellington, under the late Bishop Hadfield, and that post he retains to this day, which must stand ns a record in New Zealand. Mr. Parker was not long in asserting himself here. He became the acknowledged conductor, . whenever a choral festival was arranged, and out of nne of those events arose the Wellington Musical Union, a society devoted .to the presentation of choral works. This body did good work for many years, and was subsequently amalgamated with the Wellington Chor.il Society, and afterwards became the Royal Wellington Choral Union. Contemporaneously Mr. Parker carried on the duties of conductor of the Wellington Orchestral Society—a tine body of amateur musicians, who existed for the love of music only—mid the Wellington Lied'ertafel Society, which gave delightful part-song concerts for many hap’’VveJr with i these milltifarious. duties. Mr Parker found time to give instruction to many students (at which vocation he is still employed) to give church.organ recitals, to deliver lectures on the com posers, and in a dozen other ways assisted to keep the torch of musical endeavour aflame. . Yet with al « never descended in the scale o table the ears of the groundlings, but ever maintained a dignity in section and address that induced respect and affection for music and himself. . Mr. Parker’s honour is merited for n life well snent in the prosecution of that service which is at once an art nnd a profession. His life and its.ncbiev ements should serve as an inspiration to others. MR. A. A. LUCKHAM Mr Luckham was an English officer of the Third Dragoon Guards who resigned from his regiment and came to New Zealand shortly before the outbreak of the war. Almost as soon as the conflict started he was appointed assistant adjutant at Trentham Camp. Under Colonel H. R. Potter he became adjutant and continued to serve in that capacity at Trentham till the close of the war. In 1920 Mr. Luckham was appointed Resident Commisisoner at Aitutaki. in the Cook Islands, anti for the past seven years he has held a similar position on Niue Island.