OBITUARY

Evening Post, Volume CXVIII, Issue 49, 27 August 1934, Page 10

OBITUARY

HON. W. C. MACGREGOR

LATELY SUPREME COURT

JUDGE

United Tress Association—By Electric Tele-

graph—Copyright.

(Received August 27, noon.)

LONDON, August -26,

The death is announced of the Hon. William Cunningham MacGi'Cgor, formerly a Judge of the Supreme Court ol! New Zealand.

o To those, ■with knowledge- of Mr. r. Justice MacGrcgof's health priori to and o since his departure from New Zealand j. the news of his death, though received 0 with much regret; was not as great a y . surprise as it -will be to many legal practitioners and others. The regret at [. his passing is accentuated by the death j. earlier this month of Mrs. MacGregor, r. with whom he left for England in April d of this year. Ho was not at all well n when he sailed from New Zealand, and s was ill when Mrs. ( MaeGregor died, g Apart from, his qualifications for the t . office, he held as a member of the £ Judiciary in Now Zealand, ho was one e who had the happy knack of intros ducing a touch of humour into pro- . cecdings. i' • HIS RETIREMENT. It is little more than four months I ago since a representative gathering of legal practitioners and a number of distinguised citizens gathered at the Supremo Court in Wellington to' bid him farewell on the occasion of his retirement from the Judicial Bench. Tributes-to his personal qualities, and to his service as a Judge wore paid by 1 Mr. C. 11. Treadwcll, president of the New Zealand Lau- Society, and Mr. T. G. A. 1-lislop, president of the Welling--1 ton District Law . Society, and Mri Justice MacGregor's speech in reply was radiant of his manner. Both at tho Bar and ou the Bench the Hon. William Cunningham MacGregor had a distinguished career. At tho time of his appointment to the Supremo Court Bench in September, 1923, he held the- position of SolicitorGeneral. He retired in April of this year, so that he was nearly eleven years on tho Bench. During that time he fiat in every circuit town in the Dominion, from Gisborne to HoKitika; from New Plymouth to luvercargill. Born in Paisley (Scotland) on April 14, 3SG2, and the only. surviving son of tho late Rev. James MacGregor, D.D., Professor of Systematic Theology at New College, Edinburgh, and later of Oamaru, where he died in 1897. Mr. Justice MacGregor was educated at George Watson 's College School, and at the Universities of Edinburgh and Otago. At the age of 19 he came to Now Zealand for health reasons, with his family, and passed as barrister and solicitor two years later, securing first place in the colony, and the. Canterbury Law Society's gold medal for the year 1883. For several years after his arrival he was in the office of Messrs. Stewart and Denniston at -Dunedin, where he started practising oh his own account about 1890. In 1898 ho was elected president of the Otago Law Society. When Mr. Justice Chapman was elevated to the Bench in 1903, Mr. MacGregor assumed his position in the firm, which then became known as Messrs. Smith, MacGregor, and Sinclair, Dunedin, and afterwards .as Messrs. MacGregor and Bamsay. EXTENSIVE PRACTICE. For many, years Mr. Justice MaeGrcgor was legal adviser to tho Dunedin City Council. He soou became a leading member of the Bar in. Otago, and he had an extensive practice in the Supreme Court. In the first year of the war, he was appointed Crown Prosecutor for tho Otago district, and became a K.C., also in 1914. In July, 1920, ho gave up private practice in Dunediu, and came to Wellington as Solicitor-General, in succession to Sir John Salmonc!, on his appointment to the Supreme Court Bench. As, Solici-tor-General he was in control of the Crown Law Office, which has the conduct of all the legal business of the Crown for the Dominion. During the absence of Sir Francis 801l at the Geneva Conference of the League of Nations, it became necessary for his Honour to assume most of tho duties of Attorney-General. While acting as Solicitor-General ho was instrumental in appointing the following Crown Prosecutors:— Mr. Meredith in Auckland, Mr. Maeassey in'Wellington,-Mr. Donnelly in Christcburcli,. Mr. Adams, in Dunedin, Mr. Kitchingham in . Greymouth, and Mr. Lusk in Napier. During his term of office, from 1920 to 1923, he also conducted tho accustomed stream of litigation on behalf of tho Crown in New Zealand, involving numerous appearances before the Full Court and Court of Appeal m Wellington. On one occasion he was specially instructed by the Government to proceed to Hamilton, there to lead, on behalf of the Crown, in the third trial of the Maori Kahu on a charge of murdering his mate by shooting him from behind in the bush. KEEN IMPERIALIST. During his earlier years at the Bar Mr. Justice MacGregor was a frequent contributor to the Press, both in England and in New Zealand. He has taken a keen interest in British Imperialism, and has lectured and written on this and kindred subjects. ■ His scholarly attainments are recorded in some of his contributions to the literary publications. ■ In the eighties he was ■ a playing member of the Carisbrook Cricket Club in Dunedin, and also played Rugby for some years with' the old Dunedin Football Club when-it was in its youthful prime. He was a. keen golfer, and was twice champion of the Otago Golf Club, afterwards becoming successively captain and president of tho club. For several years he was president of tho New Zealand branch of the Watsoninn Club, a world-wide organisation connected with Ins old school hi Edinburgh. .- ~ . ■In 1902 Mr. Justice MacGregor was married in Adelaide to Miss Dora L. Harris, daughter of the. late Mr. G. W. Harris, M.1.C.E., of Mount Gambier, South Australia. There are two children surviving, a son and a daughter, both of whom aro married and live in England.