LIEUT.-GENERAL WYNYARD, C.B., LIEUT.-GOVERNOR OF THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.

Taranaki Herald, Volume VIII, Issue 409, 2 June 1860, Page 4

LIEUT.-GENERAL WYNYARD, C.8., LIEUT.-GOVERNOR OF THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.

[From the Cape Monthly Magazine.} Robert Henry Wynyard was born in London, in December, 1801. He is a son of Geneial William Wynyard, Deputy-Adjutant General to the Forces, ahd Eqnoiry to Geoige 111., by a daughter and co-heiress of John Gladwin, Esq., of Notts ; grandson of General William Wynyard, 3id Guaids ; and gieat-grandson of General John Wyn. yard, Governor of Minorca, Jamaica. He was educated at the Rev. Mr. Paulet's, Dnnmow, Essex, and married in 1826, Anne, daughter of Hugh Macdonnell, Esq., Consul-General at Algieis. He enteied tho aimy in February, 1819, as ensign in the 85th Light Infantry, and was promoted into the 58th Regiment, in which ho served from 1826 to 1858, when he was promoted lo the rank of major geneial. In 1827 he served as aide-de-camp to MajorGeneral Thornton, and fiom 1829 to 1811 was employed on the general staff of the army in Ireland, fust under Sir John Gardiner, and then under Sir G. D'Aguilar. He was promoted Major in July, 1841, and Lieutenant- Colonel in December, 1842. In 1844, the regiment under his command embarked for Australia, and, in 1845_, he commanded the advanced division up the interior of New Zealand, against the natives, and was at the attack and capture of Ruapekapeka, in 184G, for which he received tho Order of the Bath. He assumed the command of the troops in that colony from tho departure of Geneial Despard, till the ai rival of General Pitt, and again, on that officet's death, in 1851, to the end of 1858. He was lieutenant-governor of the colony in 1851, till the abolition of the appointment, when he was elected the first Superintendent, under the new constitution — a post he resigned when acting governor of the colony, from December 1853 till the arrival of Sir George Gicy's successor in September, 1800. As acting governor, he inaugurated, and secured for the colonists, responsible goveinment. In 1857, he was granted a pension for meritorious service, and shortly after his anival in England, in Januaiy last, was elected for the command at the Cape of Good Hope, accompanied with the local rank of lieutenant-geneial, and Her Majesty's commission as lieutenant-governor. Since when, on the depaittuo of Sii Georgo Giey, he has assumed the duties of the Goveinor of this colony, and those of the high commissioner of Kaffraria. Thus, out of upwaids of foity yeais' service, ho has never been an hour unemployed, and independent of the various military appointments of tiust, he has twice held civil commissions as lieutenant-governor, and is now, for a second time, in the dischaige of the higher and more responsible duties of governor. A reference to Ha 't's Aimy List, and the gazettes of the day, will show the service that secured him the CD. ; the estimates will shen the grounds on which Her Majesty bestowed on him the pension j and a highly complimentaiy addiess from tho Governor of New Zealand, will convoy the estimation in which he was held by the inhabitants of Auckland, on his leaving that colony in October, 1858. Of Geneial Wynyaid's hitherto brief career in the Cape colony, it is unnecessaiy to lemaik much, except to bear a similai testimony to that recorded above by the colonists of New Zealand. In his capacity as commander in-chief, we being civilians, are little qualified to express any opinion, further than to state, that his intercourse with the non-mili-tary woild has been marked with singular uibaiiity and frankness, and that, far fiom frowning with lofty hauteur on the \olunteering spirit which has lately displayed itself so honorably among so large a proportion of the community, he has encouraged and stimulated it by every means in his power. In his oflicial positron as Lrentenant-Governor, under

the direction of Sir George Grey, he necessarily will have but comparatively few opportunities of acting with any degiee of independence, and on his own responsibility. It is an office, as now constituted, of so anamalous a character, that its continuance can prove of but little satisfaction either to the gentleman who may hold it, or to the country. But General Wynyard's administration of the colony, since Sir George Grey's departure, has given sufficient evidence to prove that were his commission as Licutenant-Goveinor revised, and his powers modified and extended, so as to be really adapted to the condition and requirements of the country, it would be difficult to meet with any other functionary in all lespects more competent to discharge well and satisfactorily the duties of the office.