The Eketahuna Road Board was established in 1886 through the instrumentality of Mr. Anderson, who is the present chairman of that body. The jurisdiction of the Board extends throughout the Eketahuna district, and many miles of formed roads are under its control.

Mr. Alexander Anderson, J. P., Chairman of the Eketahuna Road Board, has been a member of the Board since its inception. Born in Dumbarton in 1833, and educated there, Mr. Anderson, on leaving school, worked for some years on his father's farm. When nineteen years old he went to America, but returned to Scotland in 1855, and remained there for about twenty years Having decided to come to New Zealand, he set sail in 1875 in the good ship “Kinbanns Castle,” and landed in Wellington in the same year. For about six years after his arrival he was in the employ of Mr. Nathan. In 1880 he took up land in Eketahuna, whither he removed in the same year. The property consists of 800 acres, and was, when Mr. Anderson settled there, all dense bush. It has, however, been cleared, and now carries a large flock of sheep and a number of cattle. Mr. Anderson was a member of the school committee for seven years, for five of which he was chairman, and was also for many years chairman of the licensing committee. Mr. Anderson's homestead is pleasantly situated on the side of the valley, and is about two miles from Eketahuna. In 1885 he was appointed a Justice of the Peace by the Stout-Vogel Government. Mr. Anderson, whose wife died some time ago, has one child surviving.

page 996

Mr. Thomas Bayliss, who is a member of the Eketahuna Road Board, was born near Birmingham England, in 1840, and was educated at the Sutton Coldfield Blue Coat School. Before coming to Wellington in 1879 he was engaged in farming in Staffordshire. On landing Mr. Bayliss came to the Wairarapa,-taking up the land on which he now resides, he being the first Englishman to settle in Eketahuna after the arrival of the Scandinavians. The district was at that time a solid block of bush from Eketahuna to Alfredtown. Mr. Bayliss was elected chairman of the local Road Board at its inception in 1886, and has been continually a member with the exception of one term. In church matters he is attached to the Wesleyan Church, in which he holds the office of circuit steward. Mr. Bayliss is married and has two sons and three daughters. His brother, Mr. William Bayliss, who has been in the district for some years, took a prominent part in public affairs till 1895, and is a local preacher in connection with the same church.