SIB CHARLES FERGUSSON.

Southland Times, Issue 19335, 29 August 1924, Page 4

SIB CHARLES FERGUSSON.

OUR NEW GOVERNOR-GENERAL. SOME NOTES ON HIS CAREER. (Special to the Times.) WELLINGTON, August 28. > Some interesting items are available concerning the career of General Sir Charles Fergusson, the new Governor-General of New Zealand. IN THE WAR OFFICE. At the end of 1914, by which the existing divisions of the Army Corps were further developed by the creation of armies, each of which was to consist .of three Army Corps, Sir Charles Fergusson was appointed to command the 2nd Army Corps. “NO QUARTER.” A German newspaper in 1915 published a statement alleged to have been taken from the diary of an English Corporal, a prisoner of war in Germany, in which General Sir Charles Fergusson was quoted as having said in an address delivered to his division on August 20, 1914, before engaging the Germans, that no quarter was to be given to the enemy. General Fergusson most emphatically denied that he ever gave utterance to any expression which could bear such an interpretation. AT THE FRONT. General Fergusson was appointed K.C.M.G. on January 1, 1918, and the Legion of Honour was confererd upon him on August 19 in the same year. He commanded the 17th Corps in Valenciennes, on which occasion he was associated with General Godiey, who was in command of the 22nd Corps when the British forces gained the high ground and seized the village of Preseau. In April, 1920, Sir Charles Fergusson was presented with an address of welcome by his tenants at Kilkerran on his return from active service. At the same time Lady Alice received a presentation. It was then announced that he was parting, with portions of his estate to the occupying tenants. SYMPATHIES WITH ULSTER. In March, 1914, addressing the officers and men of the 2nd Manchester at the Curragh, General Sir Charles Fergusson said his and the men’s sympathies were with Ulster, and he earnestly hoped they would not have to take up arms against that province, but if they were ordered there, like loyal soldiers of the King, they would obey that command. CAREER OF HIS FATHER.

The Rt. Hon. Sir James Fergusson, Bart. P.C., father of the new Governor-General, was Governor of New Zealand from June, 1873, to December, 1874. Bora at Edinburgh in 1832, he received his education at Rugby School and succeeded to the title on the death of his father in 1849. As a young man he entered the Grenadier Guards and obtained his captaincy in 1854, but becoming dissatisfied with military life he retired in the following year and contested the Ayr seat in the House of Commons. He occupied it from 1854 to 1857, and again from 1859 to 1868. From June, 1866, to July, 1867, he held the office of Under-Secretary of State for India, and in the following year that of Under-Secre-tary for the Home Department. In 1868 he was appointed Governor of South Australia, and a member of the Privy Council in 1873. He became Governor of New Zealand and though he resigned six months later, in that short time he made himself well acquainted with the country. He travelled frequently into the interior, although in those days it was a matter of some difficulty, and the native troubles were barely over. Sir James Fergusson was generally liked in the colony and many regretted his departure. For some years after leaving New Zealand he lived in England, and in 1880 he was appointed Governor cf Bombay. BROTHER AN ADMIRAL, The new Governor-General’s brother, Sir James Fergusson, served as Rear-Admiral commanding .he first light cruiser squadron with his flag in the Delhi, from July, 1920, to April, 1922, having formerly been assistant chief of the Naval Staff. He was captain of the battleship Thunderer at the Jutland battle. IN THE OCCUPIED TERRITORY.

In a leading article commenting on the administration of the Allied occupation cf the Rhine, the London Times, on July 7, 1919, said: “Under General Sir Charles Fergusson, the Military Governor, the rule and administration of the occupied territory have been well and wisely conducted, and his handling of labour questions in particular has tided over several crises that might easily have led to awkward situations.” RESCUED FROM DROWNING. An incident of the boyhood of Sir Charles Fergusson is contained in the newspapers of 1873 when his father, Sir James Fergusson, was Governor of South Australia. On April 24, 1873, when the present General was a boy of 10 years, he was bathing in the sea opposite the family’s summer residence near Adelaide. He swam too far out and on attempting to return to the shore found the current too strong, and was becoming exhausted. His elder sister, aged 14 years, an expert swimmer, tucked her clothes tightly round her and dashed into the water, followed by another sister She swam to her brother and brought him safely ashore.

HIGH COMMISSIONER’S IDEA. AN ADMIRABLE APPOINTMENT. (By Telegraph—Press Assn.—Copyright.) (Australian and N.Z. Cable Association.) LONDON, Augusf 27. Sir James Allen states that, although he has not met Sir Charles Fergusson, he believes that he is a man of splendid physique and highly popular personally. He has had a distinguished military career. He was one of Lord French’s commanders in the original British Expeditionary Force. His brother married a New Zealander. Sir Charles Fergusson owns extensive estates in Kilkerran (Ayrshire). Sir James Allen considers it a most admirable appointment.