People We Hear About

New Zealand Tablet, 19 June 1913, Page 41

People We Hear About

7A' grand-daughter of Dickens was married -at: the Brompton Oratory on April 24, when ''■ Miss Olive Nina Dickens, daughter r of Mr. H. F. Dickens, K.C., was wedded to Mr. Robert "Shirley Shuckburgh. Sir Joseph Ward, Bart., visited Falmouth during the last week in April and opened the Spring Flower Show. • Great interest -was manifested in the visit of the distinguished colonial. Sir Joseph/ Lady, and Miss Ward were entertained to luncheon at the King's Hotel. In addition to the Mayors and Mayoresses of Falmouth and Truro, there was a representative gathering. Sir Joseph was the guest of, Captain and Mrs. Tremayne, the latter of whom is a Catholic.

The late Lord Ashbourne has been succeeded in the title by the Hon. W. Gibson, who is one of the strongest supporters of the Gaelic movement and Gaelic costume, having revived in person the wearing of the Irish kilt. He was received into the Catholic Church while at Oxford, and his wife (the daughter of an eminent French Protestant) and his sister (the Hon. Violet Gibson) are likewise converts.. The new peer is also well known as the author of The Abbe de Lamennais and the Catholic Movement in France, and as a contributor to the Nineteenth Century.

His Grace the Archbishop of Sydney visited the rooms of the Catholic Mission for Seamen on the evening of May 22, and was given a great reception by a large number of seafaring men who were gathered in the assembly hall. His Grace is in thorough sympathy with the work which the Society of St. Vincent de Paul has been doing along the water-front for the past .six or seven years, for, as he told those who met him the other night, he is the son of a seaman himself father was a ship's .carpenterand in his youth he went to sea a few times with his parent. ' Indeed,' said the Archbishop, 'if I were not a priest, I think I would have been a sailor,' amid the applause of his hearers.

On Sunday, April 26, the pulpit at St. Mary's Church, Carmarthen, was occupied s by a Welsh Bard, who preached in the morning in English, and at night in Welsh. The Bard was an Irish Jesuit Rev. T. P. Kane, S.J. Father Kane has not only acquired a knowledge of the Welsh language, but has secured the distinction (which is so much coveted by Welsh litterateurs) of becoming a member of the 'Gorsedd' by examination. The ' Gorsedd,' which is the supreme authority in all matters relating to the National Eisteddfod, imposes a test on graduates, who are required to exhibit an acquaintance with the various ■-'-' measures' of Welsh poetry, and also to give practical .proof of their skill by original composition in the language of the Eisteddfod. These tests have been successfully passed by Father Kane.

Sir Richard W. Scott, a member of the Canadian Senate, and prominent in the public life of - Canada for more than half a century, died at .Ottawa on April 23 after a brief illness following an operation. He was the Nestor of the Liberal party in Canada. During his whole life Senator Scott was a devoted, consistent and practical Catholic who never hesitated to proclaim his allegiance to the Church and to defend her teachings. He enjoyed the respect and esteem of his contemporaries, irrespective of political affiliations. He was called to the Senate in March, 1874, and was the leader of the Liberal Party in that body for over 30 years. When the Liberals came into power under the leadership of Sir Wilfred Laurier, in 1896, Senator Scott was appointed Secretary of State and continued in the Cabinet until a few years ago, when he retired and was succeeded by the Honorable Charles Murphy.