PERSONAL NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2665, 12 April 1905, Page 72

PERSONAL NOTES.

— Sir Henry Tichhorn©, who i s off to China and Japan, a trip of great interest at any time, but sure to afford exciting experiences now, is head of a very aneieat house; in fact, one of the most ancient in the country. The lands of Tier. borne have been held by the family tver sine© the days of the first Henry, when Walter de Tichborne- whs head of the- house, and, with research, the history of the- name might well be carried further back still. Sir Henry is fond of sport, and has also a private cric/ket ground, whare Maurice Read, the old Surrey favourite, leads the local talent in the- right direction.

— LordUßrassey, who has entered on his seventieth year, is the most nautical of all our Peers, scarce excepting those who have been professional sailors. His mileage record is said to be over 300,000, and he began his career afloat when a Rugby boy on the Spray of the Ocean, a little seventonner presented to him by his father. The story of the famous yacht, the Sunbeam, has been given to the world by the facile pen of the late Lady Braseey, and at his lordship's house in Park lane there is a specially-built museum in which have been collected and arranged the numerous curiosities gathered from almost every part of the. world during the Sunbeam's various voyages. His sea-going knowledge has been of no small use to Lord Brassey in naval matters, in which he takes such a deep interest, and on which he has written so copiously.

— The Very Reverend Robert Gregory. Dean of St. Paul's, London, who celebrated' his eighty-sixth birthday on February 10, is a man who has done a great deal for the cathedral in his day. Before he succeeded Dean Church in his high office, Dean Gregory was a residential Canon of St. Paul's for two-and-twonty years, and especially in business affairs he proved himself irrvaluable. He is, indeed, a thoroughly practical man, a first-rate organiser, and a born administrator, and if he has never beon such a preacher as Canon Liddon, he has been able to serve bis church in othe^ ways. It was only a short time agt> that Dean Gregory was asked' if ho were ntt afraid of tiring himself out by the amount of walking which he did. " No," replied the sprightly man of eighty-odd, "on the contrary, if I did not walk every day I should very toon be unable to walk at all."

— Sir Edward Gennys Fanshawe, en whom, now {hat Admiral Sir Erasmus Ommann >y has passed away, falls h's mantle as Father of the Fleet, was born, like Sir Erasmus, in 1814-, but entered the navy two years later than Sir Erasmus, and so missed Navarino, not getting his baptism of fire, in fact, till 1840, when he won the Syrian and Turkish medals for his services at the bombardment of St. Jean d'Acre. Five years later he was blowing Byak pirates into the water off the coast of Borneo, and destroying their famous stronghold at Malloodoo. In Crimean days he captained the Cossack in the Baltic, and •was present at the bombardment of Sveaborg. In 1865 he was a Lord of the Admiralty, and from 1870 to 1873 was Commander-in-Chief on the North American Wrst Indies station. Then fee came Home to bo president of the Royal Naval College at Greenwich, and for two years prior to his retirement at the end of 1879 he was Com-mander-in-Chief at Portsmouth. Curiously enough, he gained his Rear-adinirajty a year earlier than Sir Erasmus Ommanney, and his Admiral's rank some 14 months ea rlier.

—Mr R. A. Yorbuva:h. M.P.. who has found a new way of dealing with hcekle-rs by offering to transport the-m to South Africa, is one of the most popular members of the House of Commons. The luckypossessor of a big fortune, devoted to sports of all kinds, and a great favourite in society, Mr Yerburgh would probably have done a good Jeal more in politics (says the Westminster) if his lines had been cast in le&s pleasant places. As it is, however, he hag strong and well-considered views on many matters, and can work with enthusiasm on behalf of them. Among other thing?, he has always taken an interest in the condition of British agriculture, and as president of thn Agricultural Organisation Society has done good service to the farmer. Mr Yevbursjli enioy=; the distinction of being one of the best-dressed men in. the Hoiis© of Commons, where he is an especial favourite, with the police and minor

officials, who have more than once enjoyoc j a pleasant countiy outing as his gue=ts Mr Yerburgh was a=sistant private secretaij fo>- a time to Mr W. H. Snvth when th< latter was First, Lord of the Treasury. — The Rev. Francis Edmund Cecil Bynrfifth Earl of Strafford. was born two year' before the late Queen's accession to th( throne. Formerly Vicar of St. Peter's Kensington, he became chaplain to tht House of Cooimons in 187^, a post whicl he resigned in 1889. The ill-luck which v traditional in the family has, happily, noi o-vertaiken the present Earl, although the original family that Leld the title (the Wentworths) became extinct more tlian a century ago. The title has been once for feited (16*1) ; thh was when th<= first Ear) of Strafford vAas beheaded ; fcwioo extinc-J (in 1695 and 1799) ; this ended the Wentworths ; tviice recreated, and once revived. It is a curious thing that no fewer than five Earls of Strafford have died without male issue, and that while the great Earl was beheaded on Tower Hill the late Peer was decapitated on the railway. He -was a faithful servant and personal friend of the late Queen, who felt his tragic death keenly. The two sons of the late Karl, moreover, came to untimely ends, one of them being di owned on his passage- Home from Australia, the other dying in Paris from typhoid fever just as he was about to begin his caree. as an attache to the English Embassy there.

— Karl Cowper, who— is about to receive the freedom of Hertford, i* now the oldest surviving ex-Viceroy of Ireland, with thf single exception of Earl Spencer, who took over the Vice-royalty for the second time, when Earl Oowper resigned in 1882. In connection with the stirring times in Ireland during- Earl Gowper's term at Dublin. Castle, many people are disposed to associate the name of the late Mr Forster, the Chief Secretary, with the Irish policy o f the Government, the fact being that Earl Cowper, whose letters live to show his determination, directed that policy. It was Earl Oowper who signed the order for the relea.se of Mr Parnell from Kilmainham Gaol, Mr Gladstone assuring him t-hafc an. act of which he disapproved would be. " merely Ministerial and without political responsibility." During Lord Oowper'a Vioo-rovalty. which was a battle throughout with Parnell. the Irish leader had an. experience of a civic freedom very different from the amiable event at Hertford. By the vote of a Unionist Lord Mayor, the fieedom of Dublin was at first denied to Mr Parneli, with the result that from that day to this no- Unionist has occupied the Lord Mayor's chair in Dublin, the custom hitherto having been that the two political 1 parties took it in turn.

— The death is announced of Mr Colin "W. Siruson. one of the best known and most respsoted of pastoralists. in Victoria and Riverina, who passed away on the ir.orning of 20th February at the residence of his sop-in law, Mr Tom Fairbairn, "Burnside," Leigh road. Melbourne. Having been born at Coalfain, Counts Fife, Scotland, in 1830. Mr Simson was 75 years of asre at the time of his death. H© cam© to Victoria over 50 years ago, and became a. crdet on his brother Robert's station at Langi Kal Kal. of which he subsequently was manager. Liater on he purchased York Plains Station, in the Wimmera district, where he remained for some ; ears. After a visit to Scotland he returned to Australia and houaftt the Mungadal Estate. veav Hay, New South Wales, of which lie remained owner till the time of his death. Tn later years, in partnership \\ith his son, he bought the Trinkey Estate, in the Liverpool district of New South Wales. Mr Simson represented Balranald in the New Soutb Wale-s Parliament for three years, but at the end of ihe- term did not seek re-electiot.. The deceased gentleman was a general favourite, and leaves behind a largr circle of friends. Mr Simeon leaves behind hii-p three 'ons — Mr W. D. Simson. who. resides at Wandobah: Mr Roy C. Simson, who manages Mungadal: and Dr Colin C S : mson. who is now in China, and superintends the transport of Chinese to .South. Africa. Also five daughters — 32 rs Tom. Fairbairn of Bnrns'de ; Mrs Heath, wife of Captain Heath. R.N.. of the Mediterranean souadron ; Mrs Ernest de little, of Oaramut ; Mrs Georae Officer, and Mis 3 Irene Simeon. — Pastoral'sts' Review.