People We Hear About

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXVII, Issue 14, 8 April 1909, Page 548

People We Hear About

The Right Bey. Dr. Murray, Bishop of Maitland, celebrated his eighty-first birthday on March 25.

. -. To-day (Thursday) his Grace the Archbishop of Wellington enters on his 71st- year, having, been born -on./ April 8, 1839. His Grace came out with' his parents to New Zealand in 1842. He studied at Nelson under the late Archpriest Gariii, and later on'in France and Ireland. He was ordained priest on June 6, .1865, and was consecrated Bishop, of Wellington by Cardinal Manning on March 17, 1874. Dr. Redwood was appointed first Archbishop of Wellington and Metropolitan of New Zealand on May 13, 1887. - - ' : -- ••-•'"- " Like his - predecessor, in the leadership of the Federal Labor Party, the present Prime Minister of the Commonwealth, Mr. Andrew Fisher, began to" earn, bis living at the age of ten. A Scotchman by birth, " for ' he was born, in Ayrshire in 1862, he came to Queensland in 1885, and followed the calling "of a miner on the Barrum and Gympie fields up to 1893. In that year he was elected for Gympie in the Labor interests, and has been continuously in politics ever since. Few English vocalists have had- as long and prosperous a career (says the Argus) as Sir Charles Santley, who was knighted in November, 1907, on the ocasion of -the jubilee* of his first appearance as. a public singer. It is not easy to realise that twenty years have passed since he' delighted Melbourne audiences, and that he is now 75 years old. His Reminiscences of My Life is an ' interesting volume, full of recollections of distinguished musical and theatrical people, which shows that he cantell a good story as well as sing a good song. Mr. William T. Stead recently. paid the following tribute to Ireland's orators: — 'The Irish are much the most eloquent of the English-speaking nations. Even in America W., J. Bryan is of Irish descent. In the eighteenth century the great parliamentary orators were Irishmen. Burke,. -Sheridan, Gratan, Gurran, and Flood were all " Irish. In the • nineteenth -Plunket, Shiel, O'Connell, Magee, A. M. Sullivan, and Sexton all stand in the front rank. In the" present parliament. John, Redmond, T. P. O'Connor, and T. M. Healy are the most- effective speakers. Sir Gerald Strickland, K.C.M.G., Governor of Tas- . mania, who has been appointed Governor of Western Australia, was born in Malta in 1861. His father was Captain Walter Strickland, R.N., and his mother the only child of the Chevalier Bonici Mompalas, and heiress otSir Nicholas Sceberras. Sir Gerald Strickland was edu- , cated at Oscott and Trinity. "College, .Cambridge. He succeeded his "maternal grand-uncle as sixth Count - dell.i Catena in 1875. He was Chief Secretary of Malta from 1889-1902, was knighted in 1897, and was Governor A Leeward Islands from 1902 to 1904, and since the latter date Governor of- Tasmania. His wife is Lady Edeline Sackville, daughter of the seventh Earl De la Ware. 'Sir trerald Strickland is a staunch Catholic, and during his time in Tasmania has taken a practical interest in the welfare .of the Church there. ... \ Mr. O'Grady. or, as he is more popularly known, Sergeant . O'Grady, retired from the public service on Ap&l 1. Since the inception of the Labor Department about twenty years ago Mr. O'Grady has watched over its interests in Oamaru (says a 'local paper). But it is by his ? connection with the police"" force that Mr. O'Grady\ is most widely known. He joined. the police department in 1861, jand served in Christchurch, Lyttelton, Kaiapoi, and* Rangiora. While aj; Lyttelton he received promotion to the rank of SergeanteMajor. In 1880 .he was transferred to "Auckland, where he was in charge for eighteen months of the 'N,orth of Auckland district, Russell being his headquarters. From Russell iir 1883 Sergeant O'Grady transferred to Thames, and had charge of. that district for three years. From Thames he wenjb to,. Greymouth, where _ ho remained in charge for another three years, afterwards transferring back to the North Island,~and making Napier his headquarters for three years. From Napier Sergeant O'Grady transferred to Oamaru, where he has resided since. " At the time Oamaru and Timaru formed oiu< police district under Inspector Thompson, and after Inspector Thompson's retirement Sergeant O'Grady" assumed charge of the " district and retained control until the time • of his own retirement from the force on superannuation in 1902. Sergeant O'Grady was ever a popular official, • and' his career as an, officer has been marked by many a. stirring adventure.