Mr. James Ashcroft, J.P., is the Official Assignee in Bankruptcy, and also Coroner. His offices are in the Supreme Court buildings, and he resides at Kensington House, Hill-street. Mr. Asheroft was born in London, where he was educated. He joined the large mercantile house of Redfern, Alexander and Co., with whom he remained for fourteen years, and on leaving for the Colony in January, 1862, was the recipient of a handsome gold watch, suitably inscribed, evidence of the value the firm placed on his services. Mr. Ashcroft arrived in Lyttelton per ship “Kensington” during the same year, and for twelve months thereafter was employed by Messrs. Peacock and Co. in Christchurch. In Oamaru for eleven years he carried on the grain and general merchandise business with success, and subsequently was for four or five years in the employ of Messrs. Cargill and Co. and the National Mortgage Company in Dunedin. As a journalist he occupied the responsible position of editor of the Otago Daily Times for a period of five years. In 1884 Mr. Ashcroft was appointed Official Assignee in Bankruptcy for Dunedin, which office he held for nine years, till transferred to the Empire City, where he has resided for upwards of two years. Mr. Asheroft's tastes are literary, and he does a good deal of versification. He has published “fugitive poems” on local topics, and short pamphlets on “Ritualism,” and “The Auriferous Resources of Otago and Southland.” As a Justice of the Peace, Mr. Ashcroft has acted for fourteen years. In Sunday schools he takes great delight, and has been associated with the movement for twenty-five years past. As parochial officer of the Church of England, Mr. Ashcroft did good work in Dunedin, and also as a member of the Synod of Otago.