Our New Governor.

Hastings Standard, Issue 322, 14 May 1897, Page 4

Our New Governor.

We are indebted to a ITas-ting.s friend for a copy of a late ishin of the Belfast from which wo extract the following aneut Lord Glasgow's successor : The announcement of the appointment of the Earl of Haufurly to the Governorship of New Zealand has been received with much gratification by the numerous friends of his Lordship in Belfast and the North of Ireland. None will congratulate him more sincerely than those who have within recent years been closely allied with him in his work on behalf of the Union—a cause for which he has labored arduously and successfully both in this country and in England. He was one of the first and warmest supporters of the Ulster Loyalist Union, and very early in its history he was unanimously selected as president of that organisation. In that capacity he did yeoman service, and the energetic aud untiring manner in which he entered upon all the duties associated with the position was in itself an inspiration to those who labored with him, and could not fail to increase their enthusiasm. When the local branch of the society was established he took personal charge of it, aud his daily attendance at the office during the keenest years of the anti-Home Rule campaign was a striking testimony to his zeal in the cause. He took an active part in the organisation of many of the principal Unionist demonstrations in Belfast, and assisted loyally in the arrangements connected with the visits of the Marquis of Salisbury and Mr Arthur J. Balfour to this city. Lord Ranfurly, whose full name is Uchter John Mark Knox, was born on the 13th August, 1856, and was the second son of the third earl. He succeeded to the title in May 1875, on the death of his brother, the fourth earl, and in 1880 he married the Honorable Constance Elizabeth, daughter of the seventh Vucmut Char'emont. He sits in the House of Lords as Baron Ranfurly, a United Kingdom peerage created in 1826, but the Irish peerage is of earlier date, going back as far as 1781, when one of his ancestors became the first Baron Welles, and in 1791 the first Viscount Northland. The Irish earldom was established in 1831. The eldest son of the Earl of Ranfurly now hears the title of Viscount Northland, and, as is well known, the Irish residence of the family is Northland House, Dungannon. The present peer has always manifested a keen interest in the affairs of Dungannon, and, as chairman of the Town Commission, he has done much to maintain the prosperity of the town; while the dinners he has given from time to time at Northland House to his fellow-members and other friends afforded pleasant opportunities for discussing local affairs and for promoting a feeling of esprit <Je rorji amongst those who shared his hospitality. As a landlord Lord Ranfurly is on the most amicable terms with his tenants, and he has exerted himself in many ways to promote local industries. A better choice for the Governorship of New Zealand could not have been made, and there is little doubt that his Lordship will become as popular in his new sphere of duty as he is in this country. He is not by any means unknown in Australasia, for he owns extensive orchards at Mildura, Victoria, and he has spent a considerable amount of time in that district. He had a good deal to do with an irrigation scheme which was carried out in that part of the colony, and he has in many ways been identified with its progress and development. He is a man of great activity and of fertile brain, equally skilful in the inception and execution of new projects. The people of New Zealand are to be congratulated upon their new Governor, who may be relied upon to fill the important position with advantage to the colony, and to discharge his responsible duties with the success which has characterised all his public work in the past.