INTERESTED VISITOR

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 1, 2 January 1937, Page 16

INTERESTED VISITOR

SOME ANCIENT HISTORY

Mrs. Baynes, who was one- of the passengers by the Ch-ford, spent some time in New Zealand years ago, and always wished to visit the country again, as she found a great deal to charm her in it, states,her sister, Miss Nias, who is in Wellington at present. The ladies are daughters of Admiral Sir Joseph Nias, K.C.8., and Mrs. Baynes's husband, father-in-law, and uncle were all Admirals of distinguished service, as well as her father. In 1900 her husband, Rear-Admiral Baynes, when in command of H.M.S. Mildura in Australian waters, received orders to escort the Governor of :New Zealand (Lord Ranfurly), to annex the Cook and other, outlying islands in the north. Her father in; 1840 brought out the first Governor (Captain Hobson).

The earlier history of the family, wa» also very interesting. Admiral Baynes's father. Admiral Sir Robert Baynes, as a young officer, was present at the autopsy of the'body of Napoleon. He was Commander on. the famous Asia flying the flag of Admiral Sir Edward Codrington when she led the English, French, and Russian fleets into .action at the battle of Navarino, freeing the Greeks from the domination of : the Turks. Mr. Niste was flag-lieutenant at the time, and the friendship then established led to the marriage of their son and daughter ift later years. Sir Robert, when Commande£in-Chi# oil the Pacific station, did much service at Esquimau and in Western Canadian waters. His name iscommemorated in Mount Baynes Sound and in .other places. His wife was the - •daughter of the Lord Chief Justice of England, who defended Queen Caroline at her

trial. Mrs. Baynes had one son, Captain Baynes, M.C., who was a distinguished scholar of Clare College, Cambridge, and was killed a month before the Armistice. Mrs. Baynes founded the Denham Baynes studentship in memory of her son at Clare, for* research in mathematics, chemistry, and physics, eligible for men who have taken their third-year degree. The present holder is a New Zealander, Mr. Barrer, son of Mr. and Mrs. Barrer, of Masterton. King George V granted Mrs. Baynes a set of apartments in Hampton .Court Palace/ this being an honour ; only accorded to the wives of-.' people of distinguished service. Mrs. Baynes has, at different times, spent several months in New Zealand, and is one of its fervent admirers.'Her sister, Miss Nias, who was >. also one of the Orford passengers, was so charmed with what she saw in the north that she has given up her return passage in the Orford, and'is taking her chance of being able to get a passage in one of the liners later on. She has arranged through the Tourist Department an extensive tour in the South Island. She' will see all the leading "beauty • spo^s,"' and' expresses great pleasure at all she has seen en the way down from Auckland. Although in Wellington atia time when the dirty, unswept streets are a disgrace, she is able to take pleasure in , the harbour and mountains, and also is much intrigued in the warm weather at Christmas time—an experience she has not had before. ■ Miss Nias intends to visit Russell in the north, where her father was one of the signatories to the Treaty of Waitangi, as well as Stewart Island in tha ; south, where the bottle he buried with : some documents has never been found. . "I might find it myself," said Miss Nias, with a smile, but without much. hope, as keen searches have. already been made.