SIR ROBERT STOUT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18742, 23 June 1924, Page 8

SIR ROBERT STOUT.

A NOTABLE RECORD. TERM AS CHIEF JUSTICE. SILVER ANNIVERSARY. 'A quarter of a century's service as Chief Justice, 1 is the: record which/stands to the credit of Sir Robert K Stout. It was ;on ; June 22, 1899, ; that ; Sir Robert received his appointment,; and as he happens to be now in Auckland it is but fitting that the • Auckland Law Society should take-full cognisance of the anniversary. ' ■ The : members of the local Bar therefore will tender to the Chief Justice, at the Supreme Court to-morrow morning, their felicitations on the event, through Mr. A. H. ; : Johnstone, president of the Law Society. Sir Robert will be the guest of' the society-at its annual dinner, to be held on Wednesday evening, at the Northern Club. ~,'j -73 »,„„« Born in the ;Shetland Islands 78j years age, Sir Robert Stout landed at Bluff in ■ April, 1864, from the wooden sailing ship Lady Milton. He Joined the vessel in London 1 : and of [ her ; voyage he retains many vivid memories. " I had "the greatest compliment of ;my life paid me by the captain of the ship," said Sir Robert on Saturday, "for ha asked me how long I had been" a ■ sailor." /. The explanation of 1 that question is simple. J; The Lady Milton only had 12 seamen and the passengers helped to work her. When off Madeira a Heavy gale was encountered j and Sir Robert;' (then Mr. \ Stout), I quite a youth, went aloft and helped: furl the mizzen royal. : It was upon coming down J from aloft that the captain asked, his question and no doubt he was astonished ■when his youthful;passenger. replied thaihe had never been a' sailor, : but: came from; the; Shetlands, where nearly • everyone had something to, do %vith boathandling, and lived in a seafaring atmosphere. ' . - - The Lady Milton took 128 days for the passage from London, / and when necessary Mr. Stout took his part.in handling the ship,; his post in the Tropics being at the main .lower topsail braces. ;He also had to take his part at the pumps, the vessel 'ats one time '/having/3ft. 6in. '/'of water in her, due to a leak in the bow. He carried a sextant and the necessary navigational books, and kept a private log of the voyage. Having a good' knowledge of navigation, he .-: gave lessons 'in that subjlli-t when ho '• reached Dunedin. Subsequently Sir Robert- held - : several teaching appointments ;',;'; in ; Otago. ;; He abandoned '[ teaching in 1867, -and- entered a: law office,^passing hi 3 : examination.; as a barrister in July, 1871. Sir Robert j/ was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1875, :< and within three years he had been appointed Attorney-General • in- the Ministry .■; of ■; SirGeorge Grey. From 1884 to 1887 he was ; at the head of v the r Stout-Vogel Govern- ■■ | menti. He /was knighted in 1886. Sir I Robert was f out of Parliament from 1887 I until he was returned for Inangahua at a j by-election in .1893, being elected for a : Wellington ■•' seat /at the [i general election later in ; the same year. k Sir Robert resigned, his seat in Parliament in 1898.