PERSONALITIES

Hawera Star, Volume LIV, 24 August 1935, Page 7

PERSONALITIES

MR. B. C. GIBSON.

For 30 years Mr B C. Gibson, of the ( Mountain Road, has been a member of j the Egmont A. and P. Association and j for the greater part of that time has been a member of the committee. Mr Gibson was born in Norma.nby and received his education at the Normanby and Te Roti Schools. On leaving sehool, Mr Gibson went to the Ararata district, where he was employed by Messrs Delamore Bros, for the purpose of learning

the rudiments of sheep farming. Later, he took up land bordering on the Patea River, where he raised sheep for a few years until coming to his present farm on the Mountain Road 30 years ago. While out in the Ararata district, Mr Gibson played football in what he called the “Bush Union.” On.coming to his present farm, Mr Gibson combined dairying with sheep and at once took an interest in the control of the industry. He was for 16 years a member of the directorate of the Normanby Dairy '’Company. In matters outside the dairy industry, Mr Gibson was keenly interested in the affairs of the Normanby Horticultural Society and after being a member for a few years was elected president, an office he held for some years. As a steward of the sheep section of the A. and P. Association he has become known to breeders all over the hTorth Island, while he has also for many years been in charge of the weight guessing at the show. Por over 20 years he has been a member of the Egmont Racing Club, and a steward for the past 10 years, while for 20 vears he has been a member of the Hawera Trotting Club. Mr Gibson was one of the foundation members of St. Andrews-by-the-Moun-tain Golf Club, and at the present time is one of its most enthusiastic members. For the past 20 years he has been a member of the Hawera Acclimatisation Society, and as a member of the executive has taken a very keen interest in its welfare.

MR. F. HOSKIN.

Mr F. Hoskin, of Matapu, has been a member of the committee of the. Egrnont A. and P. Association for 20 years, and a member of the committee of that body for the same period. He was born in Bell Block, and his father •was a passenger in the second vessel which landed at New Plymouth nearly a century ago. After attending the Bell Block School, Mr Hoskin took up land some 43 years ago in the

Tataraimaka district. -where he remained for three or four years, when he moved to Frankley Boad. After living; in that district for seven years, he bought a farm at Opunake, and remained there until 1916, when he purchased his present holding at Matapu. For 32 years Mr Hoskin has been a Jersey cattle "breeder, and for most of that time has been a member of the New Zealand Jersey Cattle Breeders’ Association. He was one of the foundation members of the Hawera Jersey Cattle Club, and that body frequently uses his farm and stock for demonstration purposes. For a time he tilled the position of president of the tclub. In the show ring Mr Hoskin’s cattle have taken many prizes, while as an exhibitor of Clydesdale horses he has also won a number of medals and certificates. The “Te Ngutu” Jerseys are known beyond the confines of Taranaki shows. Mr Hoskin has been a member of the Hawera Trotting Club for the past five years, while until 16 years ago, Mr Hoskin raced a couple of horses in flat racing events.

Mr Hoskin’s public life lias been confined mainly to matters appertaining to farming. He has been a member of the Matapu School Committee and has been president of the Matapu branch of the Farmers’ Union. As a dairy factory director he was for five years on the board of the Frankley Hoad factory, while for a number of years .he was a director of the Opunake, Oaonui and Mangatoki companies.