In the Public Eye.

New Zealand Illustrated Magazine, Volume IV, 1 April 1901, Page 503

In the Public Eye.

JuiXtK GrRESSON,

who tlieil recently at Christchurch, was born

JUDGE GRESSON.

iii the County of Meath iv the year 1807. He took his B.A. degree at Trinity College, Dnblin. After having kept his terms at the Temple, lie practised at the Irish Bar till the year 1854, when he emigrated with his family to Canterbury, New Zealand. The idea of colonization had

lirst p;irt of the journey was made in a guhl escort; wairn'on, iiiul when the mad beeanu) too bad for driving, tin- Judge and t.ho Crown Pi'osoiMitor continued tluiir jonnii'y on horseback- -t.hu latter, howovci'. rctunu'd by sea, pro furring 1 the dangers of the ocean to those of tho road. Later on the districts

were divided, and

always great attractions for him. and he made his adopted country his home. Shortly after his arrival he accepted the office of Provincial Solicitor under James Edward Fitzgerald, the first Superintendent of Canterbury. In iBSB lie was made Judge of the Middle Island, and after taking the ses-

sions in Nelson, rode from thence to Christchurch

with a guide, crossing one river

nineteen times in one day, and later staudish & Preece, on to Dunedin.

After the finding of gold on the West Coast, Westland became populated, and the increase of crime necessitated the holding of a session at Hokitika before the present coach road was completed. The

deepest interest. He wii.s t'wr many years Synodsiiiiiii and lay reader for the di.strici of Wooden cl, ami Fora time hold the post of Chancellor of the Diocese. In the early days of the settlement he had been one of the warmest promoters of the building of

work was con lined to Cliristelmreh. In IS/5 lie resigned the oH'kji) of .iiid^'e, it ml ro tired to \\\> farm " Waiora," about seventeen miles fro m Uhri stchureli, when- ho lived for seven teen ye;u\s, takin.n' ;i interest in all that concerned the welfare of the, nei^h bou rhooc.l, i nol ml ing ihe Maori village of St. Stephens, lie was a freijtient exhibitor at eattlo shows, and a j^reafc promoter of l.ho 1 oca I F low c v Show, lint it was in Church matters that he took the

Christchurch Cathedral, and in after 1 years suggested the erection of the Selwyn pulpit to the memory of New Zealand's first Primate, and was mainly instrumental in carrying it to completion. In 1893 he came to live in Fendalton,a suburb of Christchurch, where he I'esided until his death on January 31st, at the age of ninety-two. For several years he was a regular visitor at the Christchurch Hospital, and was a Vestryman and Parochial Nominator to the last. His last public appearance was at the service held for the inauguration of the completion of the Cathedral in Jubilee week, December 20th, 1900.

The Anglican Church in Canterbury has

recently lost in Dean VERY REVD DEAN H j , Qm JACOBS DD. . . wasiiitimatelycoiaiected with it from its foundation, for he it was

who performed |the first Church of England servioe in the province. He arrived atLyttelton in 1850 to take up a classical professorship in the College which was to be

founded at once in this orthodox young settlement. Two years later found him in the capacity of headmaster, opening the Christ's College Grammar School, a position which he held until 1863, when he undei'took the incumbency of Christchurch. His ability assured rapid promotion, and he shortly became Archdeacon Jacobs. This was followed by the offer of the Bishopric of Nelson, which he refused, his love for the Avon, beautifully expressed in a contribution to The Canterbury Rhymes, in 1854, and a disinclination to leave the scene of his earlier labours probably prompting him thereto. He was next appointed Dean of Christchurch, and continued his ministry for many years at St. Michael's. After some forty years spent in the labour he loved, educational and ecclesiastical, under the Southern Cross, he sailed for the Home country in 1890; not to remain, however, for he soon returned to the land to which he thus happily referred to in, I think, his earliest contribution to the above work, entitled "Greece is Where the Greeks Dwell":

" Tis not thy soil, 0 England ! nor thy scenes, Though oft on these home-wand'ring fancy leans ; 'Tis not alone the historic fervour caught From old association ; nor thy marts, Nor c'en thy grey cathedrals, nor the wells Of ancient learning, though for these our hearts May proudly yearn ; true love of country tells A better tale— thy Church, thy laws, thy arts ! 'Tis England where an English spirit dwells !" His " Jubilee Hymn," of which Her Late Majesty graciously accepted the dedication, jiihl *" A Lay of the Southern Cross — and Other Poems " — published at Home were amongst his best poetical works. 4, Mrs. Davip Nathan, who appeared as Cleopatra in some MRS- , xxr ii- , recent Wellington DAVID NATHAN. _, f tableaux, comes from England, She is the wife of Mr. David Nathan, well-known in financial and commercial circles in the Empire City. Mrs.

Nathan's dressing for the character of Cleopatra was most artistic, and her jewels were magnificent. Mr. and Mrs. Nathau reside in a beautifully-decorated house in Clifton Terrace, where they give charming dinners and entertain right hospitably. The negative from which our illustration is taken was unfortunately lost in the fire which recently destroyed Messrs. Wrigglesworth and Binns' Studio in Willis Street.

The recently-elected member of the Universi t y Senate, Professor PROFESSOR Richavd c Maclaurin, of MACLATTRIN, T7 . , . „ „ w ... M.A., LL.M- Victoria College, Wellington, is a gentleman who

knows by personal experience every step of our educational system. He bee-ati his scholastic career by winning a District Scholarship at the Hantapu Public School in 1880. He gained the Auckland Grammar School Scholarship in 188G, and was first on the list of Junior University Scholars in 1887, and entered the Auckland University. In 1890 he graduated 8.A., and obtained the University Senior Scholarship in mathematics, graduating M.A. with first-class honours in mathematics and mathematical physics in 1891. The succeeding year saw him elected to a scholarship at St. John's College, Cambridge, and at the first annual exam, he was awarded a Foundation Scholarship for special distinction in mathematics. In 1895 he graduated B.A. (as a wrangler) with First Class Honours ; in 1896 he was bracketed with the Senior Wrangler in the First Division of the First Class in Part 11, of the Mathematical Tripos — admittedly the most difficult mathematical examination in the world. His next step was to travel. He spent some time studying University

methods in Germany, tin; United States, and Canada. While in Canada he wrote a thesis on an abstruse- dilliculty in mathematical analysis, which afterwards gained the Smith's Prize, the most coveted mathematical prize at Cambridge, over the head o* the Senior Wrangler. The work was declared by the examiners to be an important contribution to mathematical science, and was published /'// cjicnan by the Cambridge Philoso hical Society. Professor Maclaurin next studied law, and became a member of the Honorable Society of Lincoln's Inn, and was awarded the McMalion Law Studentship at St. John's College, a scholarship of the value of (Jl5O per annum for four years. A little later he graduated successively LL.B. and LL..M. nl

Cambridge. In 1898 he was elected to that l'ecognized hall-mark of University distinction, a Fellowship at St. John's, and

studies with>exceptional energy. He matriculated and passed the Junior Civil Service and medical preliminary exams, at Prince Albert College, Auckland, spent two years in the study of science at the Auckland University, moved to Sydney and passed his first professional examination there,,, then .on to Edinburgh University, where in turn most of the coveted honours in the branch of the profession to which he had devoted himself, the diseases of women and children, l'ewarded his untiring application. Amongst these may be mentioned the Buchanan Scholai'ship, the position of Senior Prizeman in Surgery at the New School of Medicine ; first-class honours in medicine, surgery, midwifery, pathology and physiology, etc. ; University medals in diseases of women, and in physiology ; and his M.B. and M.D. degrees, which were gained with Honours, by no means a bad record. Dr. Groldie had no sooner graduated than he started in

wrote a thesis on the History of Title, for which he gained the Yorke Prize of one hundred guineas, which had not been awarded for six years, as it is only given for a thesis of exceptional merit. Professor Maclaurin is probably the only mau who ever obtained the Smith's and Yorke's Prizes within two years. Shortly after this he was appointed Professor of Mathematics and Mathematical Physics at Victoria College, Wellington. Outside his regular mathematical duties Professor Maclaurin lectui'es on Jurisprudence and Constitutional History. This he does as a labour of. love, and has already attracted a large class of students.

Dr. William Herbert Goldie, M.D., CM. (Ed in.), "is a son of the DR. W. H. GOLDIE, v " , . . M D C M (15DIN ) PreS6nt Mayol< ° f AUCk " land, Mr. David troldie. As a boy young Groldie had an excellent record as an athlete, but recognising that the business of life was not entirely confined to the playground, he devoted himself to his

general practice. We find him successively in charge of tho Countess of Seafield's Hospital, acting as Honse-surgeon in charge of the University Wards for Diseases of

Women at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, working in the London Hospitals, House Physician and Pathologist at the Wolverhampton and Staffordshire General Infirmary, and also in the Eastern Fever Hospital, London, on the Honorary Staff of the Chelsea Hospital for Women, assisting the eminent surgeon, Mr Bland Sutton, in his most difficult operations, and carrying on a consulting practice at Wimpole Street, Cavendish Square. It was only last year that Dr. Goldie returned to New Zealand, and settled in Auckland to give his native town the benefit of his studies. The Polynesian, Melauesian and Australian natives and their habits and customs have always held great interest for Dv. Goldie, and he intends publishing a work on the subject. He was awarded honours while at the Edinburgh University for a thesis entitled " The Medical Customs and Diseases of the Polynesian Maori and Australian Races." Dr. Goldie has been elected Surgeon-Captain of the Auckland Engineers Volunteer Corps.

Amongst the hardy pioneers of Otago there

were naturally many MX. W. SWAN. milierßj a das ; ()f men whose adventurous lives tend to foster a spirit of determination to overcome all difficulties and a steady resourcefulness, which makes them admirable settlers for a new country. The subject of this sketch, the late Mr. William Swan, was an excellent example in point. Born at Preston paus in Scotland, and taught the arduous duties of a coalminer, Mr. Swan, ou arriving at the age of twenty-thi'ee, decided to try his luck in New Zealand. His first goldh'eld experiences were on the Dunstan iv 1861. Realising that there were moi'e certain profits to be made by cartage of stores than by digging, he soon turned his attention to this line of business, and did exceedingly well at it. A short experience of the New South Wales goldfields soon sent him back to Dunedin, where the next few yeai's were spent in founding a flourishing coal and

(innvooii business. Not content with succes>fullv tnntuigiii£r his own business, Mi 1 . Swan, in 18->l.>, offered his services us City Councillor, find for many years did excellent work in this capacity mid that of Mayor, both of the oily and of the Mosgiel Bui'nuirli dnriiiLr liis rrsidi'iice therein. Ho

also devoted his (.'iierg'ies to the Otago J3enevolent Institution, the Ocea-i Beach Domain Board, and Charitable Aid lioard, and occupied the position for ton years of Treasurer of the Caledonian Society. Ho will be long remembered in the City of the South for his constant attention and unswerving devotion to the causes he took in hand.

Mk. Charles Wilson, who. as lie himself aptly expresses it, has MR - CHARLES f orsa k en t h e busy hum of the printing office for the quiet and classic shades of the Parliamentary Library, is well known in New Zealand. He has all the pluck and energy of the typical Yorkshireman, and has worked his way steadily onward in this colony. As one

of the teaching staff of Wanganui College, as a. journalist, and as a member of Parliament, his work is well known. He

as his namesake, the Premier, and the most serious reporter would sooner interview him. His photo was unavoidably omitted from the columns devoted to the CravePower Company last month, and is therefore reproduced here.

At a time when New Zealand boys have

made such a proud name NEW B Z 0Y A S LANI) fOV theraselves in the battlefields of South Afri-. ca, it is especially pleasant to have to record instances such as often appear "In the Public Eye " of others who have borne themselves bravely and made good records in the arenas of our great English Universities against talent which is drawn from all quarters of the English-speaking world. Such instances are more valuable ir. showing to the rising generation what can be

has, all t his life, been a lover of books, and has himself gathered together a very t fine private library. As Parliamentary Librarian he will now have a tnost congenial occupation, and no doubt he will do his best to make the splendid collection of literature, which he has in his keeping, of more use and benefit to the public than it has been in the past.

A visit from genial Dick Stewart with one of Williamson's Companies MR. DICK | g R treat periodically STEWABT. , r / enjoyed by playgoers in New Zealand, and Dick's name would be a sufficient guarantee of the quality of the performance to be offered the public even if Williamson's was not. He is a prince of good fellows, and his amusing anecdotes of his experiences with the various Companies he pilots are always especially worth hearing. He is almost as well known in New Zealand

done by steady application and unswerving resolution, added, of course, to the necessary ability.