KING HONOURS NEW ZEALANDERS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18044, 3 January 1927, Page 12

KING HONOURS NEW ZEALANDERS.

CHIEF JUSTICE IS GIVEN KNIGHTHOOD. By Telegraph.—Press Assn.—Copyright. Aus. and N.Z. Cable Association. LONDON. December 31. The New Year Honours announced include:— Companions St Michael and St George. JOHN ALEXANDER. Auckland. CHARLES v WESTWOOD EARLE, Wellington. Grand Cross of St Michael and St George. LORD BURNHAM. Knight of St Michael and St George. CHARLES PERRIN SKERRETT, Chief Justice of New Zealand. Knight Bachelor. ROBERT DONALD M'LEAN, of New Zealand. Knight of St Michael. MILES WEDDERBURN LAMPSON, British Minister at Pekin. Companion of the Bath. REAR-ADMIRAL WILLIAM NAPIER. Viscount. SIR JAMES CRAIG, Premier of Northern Ireland. Baron. SIR CHARLES GREENAWAY. Priw Councillor. W. G. ORMSBY-GORE. Baronet. SIR EDWARD DAVISON. Knighthood. JOHN KEITH, ex-chairman of the Broadcasting Company. Knight of the Victorian Order. CAPTAIN TOWSE, the blind V.C. hero. Dame of the British Empire. COUNTESS OF JERSEY. Companion of Honour. REV HUGH SHEPPARD, ex-vicar St Martin's-in-the-Fields. SIR CHARLES SKERRETT, K.C.M.G.

Sir Charles Skerrett, who was appointed Chief Justice for New Zealand on the retirement of Sir Robert Stout in October, 1925, was born in India and came to New Zealand at an early age. He was educated in Wellington, and his first association with the law was in the capacity of clerk at the Wellington Magistrate's Court. He ha/d

attracted notice as a brilliant student, and was articled to Messrs Bell, Gully and Izard, largely through the interest Mr Gull}* had taken in him while he was engaged in Court. He was admitted to the Bar in ISSo. and in 18S8 entered practice in the legal firm of Brown, Skerrett and Dean. He retired from partnership in that firm in 1893, and was joined by Mr A. Wylie in 1894. Later the firm admitted Messrs Chapman and Tripp, and Air Wylie resigned. Air A. W. Blair was then admitted, and since that time the firm has had the name of Chapman, Skerrett, Tripp and Blair. Sir Charles showed eminent qualifications in his profession from his first association with legal work, and his ability so far proclaimed itself that in 1907 he was made King’s Counsel, being among the first King’s Counsel in New Zealand. A good sportsman, Sir Charles Skerrett has held many positions, showing that he is regarded as a leader in many branches of sport, and in some he has shown great personal capability. He is particularly interested in racing, having been vice-president of the Wellington Racing Club and a member of the New Zealand Racing Conference. He is a keen fisherman, and delights in deer-stalking, being an excellent marksman. As a polo player he was captain of the Wellington Polo Club, which was dissolved in 1900. Association football has also benefited by his patronage, for as president of the New Zealand Football Association he presented the Skerrett Cup for annual competition among New Zealand secondary'- schools. As a "huntsman he was a prominent member of the United Hunt, of which he was deputy-master. As president of the New Zealand Sports Protection League he has been of further service to sport generally. In social life, Sir Charles is extremely popular. He has been president of the Wellesley Club for thirteen years, and he is a leader in the work of the New Zealand Welfare League, of which he is president. Sir Charles is sixty-one years of age and is unmarried. SIR ROBERT ALLEAN, K.B. Sir Robert M'Lean is a well-known settler at Napier and Alaraekakaho, Hawke’s Bay. He is a son of the Hon Sir Donald M’Lean, and was bom at Wellington in 1852. He was educated at the Auckland Grammar School, Temple Grove and Clifton College. In England he studied law and was admitted to the English Bar. As a cyclist he had the distinction of being the first to ride across the Rimutakas to Masterton, and from Wellington, to Napier on a high-wheel bicycle. He was also keenly interested in football, having played in the first games under Rugby rules in the North Island. Later he became interested in sheep farming, and the progeny of the stud farm at Alaraekakaho have won hundreds of prizes in the show ring, including scores of championships. Sir Robert has been for several years president of the Hawke’s Bay branch of the Navy League, and was a member and vicechairman of the London executive. He was also a member of the executive council of the Royal Colonial Institute. During the war he was a member of the executive committee of Walton Military Hospital, and chairman of the New Zealand Soldiers’ Hostel. lie has served also on many local bodies. From 1896 until 1899 he represented Napier in the House of Representatives. AIR C. W. EARLE, C.AI.G. Air Charles Westwood Earle is managing director of the Wellington Publishing Company. Ltd. ("The Dominion”). He was born in Wellington an 1871, being educated at Thorndon School and Wellington College. He joined the staff of the “ Evening Post,” Wellington in 1887, but later relinquished the position of sub-editor to go farming. _ In 1894 he re-entered journalism, joining the reporting staff of the “ New Zealand Times.” In 1900

ho was assistant sub-editor of “ The Press,” Christchurch, and in 1901 editor of the ‘‘Referee” In 1906 he was appointed sub-editor of the “ Evening Post,” and associate editor in 1907. Later on he founded the “ Dominion.” He has been president of the New Zealand Institute of Journalists on several occasions, and president of the New Zealand Newspaper Proprietors’ Association since 1921.