HARBOUR BOARD STAFF

Evening Post, Volume 148, Issue 148, 20 December 1923, Page 7

HARBOUR BOARD STAFF

CHANGES ANNOUNCED

MR H. E. NICHOLLS RETIRES,

After a period of fifty years' service in connection with Wellington's shipping, Mr. H.ariy Jjldgar Nicholls, secretary and" sinking fund commissioner 01 the Wellington Harbour Board, lias forwarded his resignation to thq board, to take effect from, the end of February next, when he will retire on superannuation, after having spent esactly fifty, years on the waterfront, first in the' servjce of the lessees of the wharves, and afterwards in the service of the Harbour Board. The resignation was received at last evening's meeting of the looard, and was accepted.. The board then decided to appoint Mr. A. G. Barnett, at present assistant-secretary and treasurer, to Mr. Nicholls's position, and to promote Mr. D. J. Gibbs, of the head office staff, to the position of assistant. Mr. Nicholls was born in Wiltshire, England, in 1857, and was educated in England, and later at Adelaide. He arrived in Wellington in 1873, and became a junior clerk on the wharf in' the following year. Queen's Wharf was then leased by the ' Gity Corporation, and when the Corporation took over the control of the wharf in 1876 Mr. Nicholls was appointed assistant, accountant. Five years later he became wharf accountant. The Harbour Board was meanwhile formed, and Mr. Nicholls was then appointed accountant and cashier. In 1898 he took charge of the board's affairs as secretary, following Mr. William Ferguson, under whose office the board had progressed to a very considerable extent. Sinco 1898 the board's business and the wharves have increased' many times over, and during this period Mr. Nicholls has worked amiably with everyone wjth whom he had had to come in contact. His staff has been set an example which it has faithfully taken advantage of, and courtesy and good business capabilities are characteristics of tfre office. In the social sphere Mr. Nicholls has always taken a very keen -interest, and still does, in the theatre, his specialty. having been in connection with Shakespearian plays arid performances of "classic" plays, which include some of the older comedies of Sheridan and Goldsmith. He took paTt, in his time, in amateur theatricals, and was, in parts that he undertook, quite up to professional standards. In fact, lie was less perfunctory in his acting and reading than many professional actors.. He was always identified with the intellectual life of Wellington. Personally he was consistently courteous and approachable in business and private life. Mr. A. G. Barnett, who will be the new secretary, was born in Wellington, and first entered the board's services as a messenger in March, 1898. Passing up from the lowest position on the staff, he has been thoroughly grounded in all departments, and he has the characteristics that havo made his predecessors popular. He was appointed to the position he now holds in 1911. Apart from business, he is best known in connection with the fostering of Association football, the club that lias benefited most from his patronage being tho Diamonds Club. He is a vice-president of tile Wellington Football Association, and of the New Zealand Council.

Mr. D. J. Gibbs, who has been appointed to the position of assistant-sec-retary, has also a,lengthy record of service with the board, and, like Mr. Barnett, he entered the service first as a messenger. He was always prominent in military affairs, and still maintains his interest. He went away to the war in charge of one of the engineering re* inforce-ments, and returned with the title of Major and the D.S.O.