IN MEMORIAM

Evening Post, Volume CXVIII, Issue 51, 29 August 1934, Page 10

IN MEMORIAM

HON. W. C. MACGREGOR

IMPRESSIVE GATHERING

BENCH AND BAli

Moving tributes to the memory of the Hon. William Cunningham MacGregor, a former member of the Judicial Bench in New Zoaland, whose death in England was reported on Monday, were paid by tho Bench and tho Bar at a gathering in the Supreme Court today. It was a dignified gathering, and tho large attendance and the tributes paid wcro eloquent of the esteem in which tho late Judge was held.

On the Bench were the Chief Justice (Sir Michael Myers), Mr. Justice Ostler, Mr. Justice Blair, Mr. Justice Smith, and Sir Frederick Chapman (a former Judge). 'In addition to the representative gathering of the legal profession, among others present were five sisters of the late Judfe—Miss Agnes MacGregor, Miss Grace MacGregor, Mrs. W. A. Patterson, Mrs. David McGill, and Mrs. Hubert Wood; also Mr. W. A. Patterson (brother-in-law), Miss Grace Patterson, aud Miss Agnes Wood (nieces), Lady Myers, the Hon. J. G. Cobbe (Minister of Justice), Mr. E. Pags, S.M., Mr. J. T. Bishop (head office of the Justice Department), and Mr. D. G. A. Cooper, a former Magistrate and ex-Registrar of the Supreme Court. "Gentlemen of the Bar," said the Chief Justice, "I know that the object of your presence in such a largo number 'is to join with my colleagues and myself in paying a tribute of respect to the memory of one to whom only four short months ago you bade farewell on his retirement as a Judge of this Court. HOPE UNFULFILLED. "It is a result of tho inherent reserve characteristic of tho British race that most men go. to tho grave without a full .appreciation .of the esteem :in -which theyliavo been held by their fellow countrymen or "oven'their closest friends, but this is not altogether so in the present case, for the late Mr. Justice MacGregor had at least the : satisfaction of hearing from you the esteem'and respect in which he was held by the members of the profession who knew him. best and who had been ■ accustomed to appear before him. We who were his colleagues and his most : intimate • friends .had no such oppor- . tunity and no. such privilege as you had of publicly or even privately expressing to him the affection in which he" was held by us all. We'could each of-us dono more than express our refret at his retirement and our hope— which alas has not been fulfilled—that he would enjoy a lengthy period of happy and well-earned leisure. "Now that he has unfortunately departed from us wo can without reserve spoak of the, man,and the Judge and pay a public tribute to his memory. A BELOVED COMPANION. "For myself, though I knew him at Ihe Ear as a private practitioner and later as Solicitor-General, I found itdifficult to know him well and to understand his real qualities. Only wlien I became his colleague, on the Bench did I discover that under what I had previously- regarded as a reserved and per: haps austere demeanour were concealed qualities of geniality, kindliness, friendship, and unswerving loyalty that compelled both respect and affection. These qualities coupled with a happy wit and a keen sense of humour made him a most delightful and beloved companion. His sound -knowledge of legal principles, his perspicacity of judgment, his sane outlook on the ordinary affairs of life, ' his intuitive perception of human nature, and his sterling character, made | him a most useful and .valued collea-1 quo. Astern lover of truth and justice,- he upheld duringhis distinguished career at the Bar the best traditions of the profession; during his term of office as a Judge of this Court all the traditions •of. the British Judiciary and of our own predecessors in this country ■were.- safe-, in' his just and -, upright hands. i _ I i "Not of strong physical constitution ut any time, his later years were un-. fortunately a period of great anxiety to him owing to the ill health of his wife. When he left N*ew Zealand with hur in April last their anxiety was that she should live long enough to reach England and see their son and daughter and the daughter's young child. This happiness was mercifully vouchsafed to them. But they had been in England only a little over three months when Mrs. MacGregor died, and. now our friend and former colleague has followed. "It is left now to us, his old colleagues, only to pay this public tribute to his memory, to offer our sincere and respectful sympathy to the members of the family, and to express the hope that the knowledge of the esteem and affection in which their father was held by us all and the honoured reputation that he has left behind will besoms consolation to them in their grief. ' "I have received a message from Mr. . Justice Reed expressing his regret that owing to an attack of influenza he is unable to take part in this morning's pitting. ,He desires to join with us in sentiments that I have expressed on behalf of tho Judges." NEW ZEALAND BAR'S TRIBUTE. After the tribute >by-the Chief Justice the assemblage rose and Mr. H. Fl O'Leary, as representing the New Zealand Law Society, addressed the Bench. "May it please your Honours," he said. "On behalf of the New Zealand Law. Society, in the absence from Wellington of our- president, Mr. Treadwell, I wish to associate tho Bar of New Zealand with your Honours in this public expression of regret at the. unexpected death of the Hon. William Cunningham MacGregor, so recently a colleague of your. Honours in this Court and in more remote times our brother at tho Bar. Your Honours, it only seems yesterday that we met ,in this court for the purpose of saying forowell to him. On that occasion his life as a private practitioner, as the holder of onerous public positoris, his career at the Bar, arid on, the Bench were properly and adequately.referred to. Tho Chief Justice has again referred to them today, and I do not feel that I need make further detailed reference to them. It is sufficient for nic to say, I think, that at the, Bar he. was recognised when in practice as an honourable practitioner and an able advocate; when a public servant a broad-minded public servant, and when on the Bench a learned Judge. ■Referring .to that farewell, your Honours, it was obvious that Mr. Justice. MacGregor felt keenly the ending of-his professional life and felt keenly his parting from those with whom ho had .been-associated for so many years. His parting from us was genuine; it was sincere; it was affocting. He said good-bye: to us, and we in our turn wished him long years of health and of contentment in which to : enjoy his retirement; We little thought that we would be back in this very Same building within four, or at most five, months, to mourn his death and to express our deepest sympathy to his family. SAD CIRCUMSTANCES. "The circumstances of his death, it seems to me, were particularly sad. Wo knew when he was leaving us that his great concern was that his wife, who was .then very ill—and he himself, too, must have been ill, though we did not ! now it—should rejoin and see again

their children and their grandchildren in tbo Old World. His aim was accomplished, but at what a cost we know. However, he died with those who were dearest to him, nearest to him, and I have no doubt that if he could express sny view on the matter ho would say that ho would not have wished it otherwise. Your Honours, I have referred ever so briefly to his career as a lawyer, as a public servant, as a Judge. Of the man himself we in Wellington only became acquainted with him in his last years. From the commencement of our acquaintance with him wo learned to respect him deeply. Ag the years went on and in the last years of our association we did more than respect him. He had got nearer to us and we had got nearer to him, and we found in him qualities of heart and of mind, sympathy, affection, humour—qualities which we were ignorant of in our early association with him, and when it came to tho time for our parting with him great regard had developed into sincere affection.

"Your Honours, we mourn with you his.death. To his family, his relatives, we offer our respectful sympathy in the hope that their sorrow may be lightened by the knowledge that it is shared by us; that it may be lightened by the remembrance of his long and successful and honourable career; that it also may be lightened so far as his family and relatives are concerned by the recollections of a good, a considerate, and affectionate father and brother. In • conclusion, your Honours, may I say we are privileged today to join with you in offering to the memory of the lace Judge this tribute of regret felt by the Bar throughout New Zealand." "May it please your Honour," said Mr. T. C. A. Hislop, president of the Wellington District Law Society, addressing the Chief Justice. "As head of the Judiciary of New Zealand you have paid tribute to the memory of a former colleague on the Judicial Bench. Tho practitioners of New Zealand, through my friend Mr. O'Leary, representing the president of the New Zealand Law Society, have, in my friend's moving words, paid their tribute of respect to tho memory of the. late Judge. It now falls to me as president of the Wellington District Law Society, the district in which his Honour in the.late years in the main exercised his judicial function, to add on behalf of all practitioners in the district our special tribute to his memory.' After what has already been so well expressed there remains little for me to say other than to join wholeheartedly in the expressions to which utterance has already been given. ANOTHER. SCENE. ■ "But today the mind cannot help going, back to another sconce enacted in.this very room some few months*ago when we gathered here to bid farewell to tho Judge on his retirement from the Bench. ■ In his speech to us, a speech combining a characteristic wit and wisdom ho used the words: 'In a few hours I embark on a journey to the Old Country, and. may there be no moaning of- tho Bar when I put out to sea.? ■ Little did-we then think that the .clenr- call was so-near, and that in tho happy jest lay the germ of grim reality: ■ • - , Sunset and evening-star And one clear call for me And may there be no moaning of the bar • ■ When I put out to sea. "And so ■ again inscrutable destiny crosses, the.desires, of. man, and he -for whom only four months ago we wished long years of well-earned leisure now lies dead. For ourselves we can do no more than gather here to honour his memory, and we hope by our tributo' to bring solace and encouragement to the children who survive him."

Tho impressive ceremony lasted little mbro than 15 minutes. At its conclusion an adjournment was taken for half an hour before tho Judges resumed their respective duties.