People Talked About

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXIX, Issue I, 5 July 1902, Page 2

People Talked About

The New Governor of FIJI. All that concerns Fiji is of interest to New Zealanders just now, and we therefore give a portrait of the new Governor, Sir Henry Moore Jackson. K.C.M.G., a man of wide experience and exceptional training. He is the youngest son of the Bishop of Antigua. W.1., and was educated at Marlborough and Clifton Colleges. He entered the Royal Artillery in 1870. and retired as captain in 1885. He was private secretary and A-D.C. to the Governor of Trinidad till 1876, and A.D.C. to the Governor of Newfoundland till 1879. In 1880. he assumed the position of Commandant of Sierra Leone. and afterwards occupied

posts of increasing importance, including Colonial Secretary at Gibraltar. and Governor of the Leeward Islands. We .sit Indies, which position he occupied till appointed to be Governor of Fiji. He was decorated for colonial services in 1892. ('.M.G.. and in 1889. when he received the higher order. o o o o o Two N.Z. Heroes of the War. Among the recipients of honour in connection with the war none ar. of more interest to us than the two Ww Zealanders. Lieut. Hardham and

Captain Coutts. who are now at Home, and were to have received their well-earned decorations aftei the Coronation. Lieut. \V. Hardham V.C.. was the only New Zealander t<. gain that great decoration, the Victoria Cross, in the recent Boer war Hardham belongs to Wellington, where he is most popular, and was one of the best forwards that represented Wellington in Rugby football.

He always took a great interest in volunteering, being a member of th< Petone Navals for many years. He went to South Africa with the Fourth Contingent as sergeant-far rier, and it was during one of the engagements of that contingent that Hardham. through his great pluck and daring in rescuing a wounded comrade from under the hot and dose tire of the enemy, won the notice of his commander, and was singled out for special distinction. After his return to New Zealand he again volunteered for active service, and was given a lieutenant’s commission to the Ninth Contingent. On arrival in South Africa Hardham received orders to proceed to London to receive his coveted V.C. medal The honour carries with it the sum of £lO per year, as a pension, for life. Lieut. Hardham is a fine specimen of the colonial youth, and is most popular.

Like Lieut. Hardham. Captain Coutts is also well and favourably known in Rugby football circles, he having represented Taranaki for several years on the football field. Captain Coutts belong to Hawera, where he is a farmer. He was one of the first New Zealanders to volunteer for active service against the Boers, and went as a private in the First New Zealand Contingent. He so distinguished himself in the field as to be one of the recipients of the late Queen Victoria's scarfs, a decoration of which only f ur were given to the colonial eonting>n‘s who assisted the Home Country in the recent war. For his dis'inguished services Coutts was promoted to a commission as captain. Like Lieut. Hard' am he was ordered to London to reee'v • his honoured decoration. o o o o o Technical Education In Auckland. Mr. George George, the newly-ap-pointed director of the Auckland Technical School, is a young- man of the very highest qualifications. He is recommended by the London County Council, and the Auckland Board of Education, who made the appoint meat on Wednesday last, are to be congratulated on getting so eminently suitable a man for the position. Mr. George is 28 years of age. is married, and is at present headmaster of the Sutherland Technical Institute. Longton, the equipping of the Institute and the organisation of the courses having been left in his hands when he took over the position in 1899. He was trained in the Merchant Venturers’ Technical College. Bristol. an institution which was built at a cost of £lOO.OOO. and having a staff of over 50 professors, lecturers, etc. He obtained first place on the engineering side of the college, and was awarded an exhibition in 1891. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chemistry and of the Chemical So-

ciety, and an Associate of the Merchant Venturers’ College. He is the author of a book on “Practical Organic Chemistry," and the inventor of several pieces of apparatus for illustrative purpose in science classes. Mrs. George holds diplomas under the National Union in cookery, dressmaking. needlework and laundry-work. o o o o o A Thames Diamond Wedding. Diamond weddings are, .unfortunately. rare. Much interest. therefore, naturally attaches just now to Mr and Mrs Robert Scott, of the Thames (Auckland), who the other day celebrated the sixtieth anniversary of their wedding. As will be seen in our picture, it would be hard to pick a more handsome “Darby and .loan" in this colony, or any other part of the world, and one can well believe what a fine-looking bride and bridegroom they must have made sixty years since. Mr and Mrs Scott are among the oldest of the "old colonists." having come to Auckland in the Jane Gifford, one of the histcr'c

"first two ships.’ Mr and Mrs Scott were married on June 7, 1842, in St Mary's Episcopal Church. Union-street Glasgow, by the Rev. Geo. Almond. They left il days later for New Zealand, in the Jane Gifford, arriving oti October Sth. in Auckland. About a yeni later they went to the Bay of Islands and lived there till the Heke War wathreatening, when they returned 1" Auckland. In 18(17 the fits: rush to th* Thames goldfield took place, and Mr

and Mrs Scott brought their family to try their fortunes in the new land of gold, and have resided in the locality ewr since. Both Mr and Mrs Scott wire born in 1821, in the North of Ireland, the former in the suburbs of Donegal, and the latter in the Barony of Dungannon, County Tyrone. Mrs Scbtt’s maternal grandfather was a refugee French Huguenot, whose familyhad all perished in the terrible persecutions, after the revocation of c-f Nantes, and who himself escaped in an English man-o’-war. Mr Scott is the oldest of a family of seven, who came out all together with their parents, and 10 years ago the seven were all living. His father died some years ago ih his 101st year, so longevity is in the family. Both the octogenarians are hale and hearty. Their descendants a.ie scattered over the length and breadth of the land. Of their 10 children seven are living, six sons and a daughter. Their grand children living number 40, and great-grand-children eight. One of their grandsons died of enteric fever whilst serving as a trooper in the Fourth New Zealand Contingent in the South African War. The “Graphic" joins with their many friends, and cordially wishes them several years more of health, prosperity and happiness. A Distinguished Visitor. Amongst visitors to the colony just at present is a man whose name was. with that of Stanley, in everybody’s mouth a few years' back, Arthur Mounteney Jephson, who commanded a detachment in the Emin Pasha relief expedition, and played so irtiportant and honourable a part therein. Mr Jephson is not in robust health, and is travelling partly for pleasure and partly to recuperate. It is doubtful if he has ever quite recovered from the fearful responsibility and

strain of bis South African experiences. He was last week in Hawke’s Bay. and goes thither to stop with His Excellency Lord Ranfurly at Government House. Wellington. Mr Jephson is a King’s Messenger. He is the youngest son of the Rev. John Mounteney Jephson, and was educated at Eton. He joined the army, and was lieutenant in the Royal Irish Rifles. He was a Queen’s Messenger from 1887 till the death of her late Majesty. He has written several books in addition to his memorable “Emin Pasha and the Rebellion at the Equator," notably, “The Story of a Billiard Ball” and “Stories Told in a South African Forest.” He is a keen boating man. and his hobby is travelling.