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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Otago & Southland Provincial Districts]

Former Otago Legislative Councillors

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Former Otago Legislative Councillors.

When the Constitution was first granted in 1853, the Governor called to the Upper House Mr. F. D. Bell and Captain E. H. Bellairs, a wealthy gentleman, who had been also connected with the Canterbury settlement. But in 1856 Mr. Bell resigned, and Captain Bellairs returned to England. Mr. John Hyde Harris was, later, Superintendent of the province, member of the Legislative Council (1867–1868), District Judge, and member of the Otago University. He married one of Captain Cargill's daughters, and died in 1886. By 1862 the prominence that Otago had attained through the gold discoveries made it necessary to increase her representation in the Legislative Council, and accordingly in that year Mr. A. Buchanan was appointed, and Mr. F. S. Pillans in 1863. By 1865 the Council was greatly enlarged, and in addition to these two members, Messrs H. J. Miller, J. Rolland were summoned to the Legislature. Mr. Prendergast was Attorney-General in the Weld Ministry of 1865, and was afterwards Chief Justice of the colony from the 1st of April, 1875, to the 25th of May, 1899. During his tenure of office he was knighted, and he was succeeded as Chief Justice by Sir Robert Stout on the 22nd of June, 1899. Mr. Strode was the first resident magistrate appointed in Dunedin, at a time when Government nominees were extremely unpopular with the young settlement.

In 1868 the Otago members of the Council were Messrs Buchanan, Miller, Pillans, Holmes, John McLean, and Richardson; while Dr Menzies, and Messrs J. P. Taylor and W. H. Nurse represented Southland. Of the new members, Mr. M. Holmes and Mr. J. McLean stood for the great pastoral interests, which then, as now, formed the mainstay of the country. Sir John Richardson had been a member of the Provincial Council since 1860, and was elected its Speaker in 1861. Later he represented Dunedin in the House of Representatives, and in 1871 was elected Speaker of the Legislative Council—a position which he held till his death in 1879. He was a man of considerable capacity and of unquestionable integrity, and did much to maintain the high standard of public life and conduct set by the pioneers of the colony. Mr. James Paterson, who was called to the Council in 1869, had been Provincial Secretary when Mr. John Hyde Harris was Superintendent, and became Postmaster-General in the Stafford Ministry of 1865–1866.

In 1871 the number of Otago (including Southland) Legislative Councillors had risen to ten. Mr. John McLean's place had been taken by Mr. Robert Campbell; and Mr. Thomas Fraser had been called to the Council. In 1873, Mr. Pillans resigned, and by 1876 the Otago members of the Council were again reduced to eight.

By 1879, subsequent to the abolition of the provinces, the number of Otago members had been increased to eleven. The new members were: Sir F. D. Bell, W. H. Reynolds, W. Wood and H. K. Taiaroa. Sir F. D. Bell had been Colonial Treasurer in the first responsible ministry in 1856, but did not settle in Otago till 1864. He was, later, Speaker of the House of Representatives for four years, and after 1880 held the office of Agent-General for the colony for ten years in London. Mr. Reynolds was a member of the Provinical Council from its inception to its abolition—1853–1876—and was Speaker of the Council in 1867. He acted as Honorary Immigration Agent for the colony in England, and was elected to the House of Representatives for Dunedin in 1863 and 1865. He was Commissioner of Customs in the Waterhouse Government and under Fox, Pollen and Vogel. Mr. Reynolds was largely instrumental in saving for the province the education reserves which were in danger of being absorbed by the central goverment after 1876. Mr. H. K. Taiaroa, the son of the old chief Taiaroa, who had signed the original deed for the purchase of the Otago Block, for many years represented Otago and the Southern Maori electorate in both Houses of the Legislature, with great satisfaction to his constituents; and after a short absence was recalled to the Council, of which he is still a member.

By 1880 Sir F. D. Bell had left the colony, but Mr. George McLean—who is still a member of the Council—and Mr. Richard Oliver were appointed in 1881. Both these gentlemen had been members of the House, and both held office in several Governments. A biography of Mr. McLean appears on page 75 of the Wellington volume of this Cyclopedia, and of Mr. Oliver on page 80 of the same volume.

In 1885 the number of Councillors fell to ten through the death of Mr. Wood. In that year Mr. S. E. Shrimski, who had previously sat for Oamaru in the House of Representatives, first appears on the list. Mr. Shrimski took an active part in political affairs for many years, and died in Auckland in 1902. By 1891 the number of Otago Councillors was reduced to nine, as Mr. Paterson and Mr. Nurse had disappeared, and Mr. W. D. Stewart alone replaced them. However, in 1894, Messrs W. M. Bolt, H. J. Feldwiek and John MacGregor brought up the Otago membership once more to eleven. In 1895 the total was still further increased to twelve by the inclusion of Mr. George Jones, of Oamaru; but later changes reduced it to ten. This brief sketch of the representation of Otago in the Legislative Council is sufficient to show that in this sphere of public life, the interests of the province have been guarded by some of the most capable of its public men.

The Hon. Sir Francis Dillon Bell , who in the early days of the colony was associated with the New Zealand Company, joined the service of the Company in England, in 1839, and for some time filled the position of Chief Secretary. He arrived in New Zealand shortly after the Wairau masacre, and was engaged in negotiating the purchase of land and settling many land disputes. In 1848 he succeeded Mr. Fox as Attorney-General for the Southern Province, and was subsequently appointed a member of the Legislative Council of New Munster, as the South Island was then called. He resigned this position in 1850, and a year later he was appointed page 77 Commissioner of Crown Lands for the Wellington district. From 1853 to 1856 he was a member of the Wellington Provinoial Council. Sir Francis was summoned to the Legislative Council in Auckland, in 1854, when he became a member of the Executive Council. In the first responsible Government of the colony, known as the Bell-Sewell Ministry, he was Colonial Treasurer. He was elected for Wallace, Otago, in 1861, and in the following year he joined the Domett Administration as Colonial Treasurer, Commissioner of Customs, and Minister for Native Affairs. In the latter capacity he accompained the troops to Taranaki, and shortly afterwards went with Mr. Gorst to New South Wales and Victoria, to raise more troops for the Maori war. Sir Francis took up his residence in Otago in 1864, and for some time represented Mataura and Dunedin in the Otago Provincial Council. In 1866 he was returned to the House of Representatives for Mataura, and afterwards became a member of the Fox Ministry. In 1871 he was elected for the same district, was chosen Speaker of the House, and held the position for four years. Sir Francis was again called to the Legislative Council in 1877. There years later he was appointed Agent-General for the colony in London, and retained the position for ten years. He died on the 15th of July, 1898.

The Hon. John Hyde Harris was called to the Legislative Council in 1858, and sat as a member until 1864. In September, 1867, he was again nominated to the Council, when he joined the Stafford Government, as a member of the Executive Council, without portfolio. A month later he was appointed Solicitor-General, and held this office till May, 1868. Mr. Harris is more fully referred to among the Superintendents of Otago.

The Hon. Andrew Buchanan was called to the Legislative Council in 1862, and was a member of that body until 1874. He was born in England, of Scottish parents, studied for the medical profession, and practised in London. When he came out to New Zealand Dr Buchanan arrived at Auckland, whence he removed to Dunedin in the early sixties. He took up a run in the Maniototo district, but resided monstly in the North-East Valley, near Dunedin. Subsequently he went Home, and died in London, on the 4th of September, 1877.

The Hon. Sir James Prendergast , B.A., for many years Chief Justice of New Zealand, was born in 1828, and educated at St. Paul's School, and at Queen's College, Cambridge, where he graduated B. A. in 1849. He entered the legal profession, studied at the Middle Temple, London, and was admitted to the bar in 1856. Sir James practised as a special pleader in England, and in 1862 he came out to Otago by the ship “Chili.” He was admitted to the New Zealand bar, and in the following year was appointed Crown Prosecutor at Dunedin, and Provincial Solicitor for the province of Otago. In 1865 Sir James was called to the Legislative Council, and was appointed Non-Political Soclicitor-General and subsequently Non-Political Attorney-General. This latter position he filled until 1875, when he was appointed Chief Justice of New Zealand. On several occasions during the absence of successive Governors from the colony, Sir James creditably filled the position of Deputy-Governor. He resigned the Chief Justiceship on the 25th of May, 1899, and was succeeded within a month by Sir Robert Stcut.

The Hon. J. Rolland was called to the Legislative Council in 1865, and was a member for one year. Mr. Rolland was a retired Edinburgh lawyer, who arrived by the ship “Alpine” in 1859. He took up land in the Clutha district, and subsequently owned a large sheep run at Blacksotne Hill, which he afterwards made over to his sons.

The Late Hon. J. Rolland.

The Late Hon. J. Rolland.

The Hon. Alfred Rowland Chetham Strode was called to the Legislative Council in 1865, and sat as a member for three years. He was a native of Somersetshire, England, and a son of Sir Edward Chetham Strode. In the early days of the colony he arrived in the Norht Island, where he took part in the Maori war during 1846–47. Subsequently he became clerk to the Bench in Wellington, and was afterwards appointed first resident magistrate for Otago. On the 20th of April, 1848, he arrived in Dunedin by the schooner “Perseverance,” shortly after the arrival of the first immigrants. Mr. Strode filled many offices during his long connection with the province of Otago. He was the first commissioner appointed when gold was discovered, and he was also sheriff of the province at one time. After about thirty years of service, he retired on a pension, and resided in London, where he died on the 13th of May, 1890, aged sixty-seven years.

The Late Hon. A. R. C. Strode.

The Late Hon. A. R. C. Strode.

The Hon. Matthew Holmes was for thirty-five years a member of the Legislative Council, to which he was nominated in 1866, and in which he retained his seat up to the time of his death, on the 27th of September, 1901. He was born in 1817 in Strabane. County Tyrone, Ireland, where he received a good education, and was brought up to commercial life. In 1837 he set out for Australia and settled in Victoria, where he engaged in business, and exported to England some of the first wool shipped from that colony. In 1854 Mr. Holmes left Victoria for Scotland, where he purchased an estate near Edilburgh, and resided for some years. His thoughts, however, turned again to the colonies, and in 1859 he came out to New Zealand in the S. S. “Pirate.” Shortly afterwards two large ships,
Morris, photo.The Late Hon. M. Holmes.

Morris, photo.
The Late Hon. M. Holmes.

page 78 the “Cheviot” and “Bruce,” arrived with full cargoes of station implements and stock for the New Zealand and Australian Land Company, of which Mr. Holmes was general manager for New Zealand. In 1862 he went to England as Commissioner for New Zealand to the great Exhibition of that year, and two years later he sold his estate in Scotland, and brought his wife and family out to New Zealand. He acquired very large holdings throughout the South Island, on behalf of the New Zealand and Australian Land Company and the Canterbury and Otago Association (subsequently amalgamated), and afterwards took some of these over when he severed his connection with that company. His principal properties were “Awamoa,” near Oamaru, and “Castle Rock,” in Southland. Mr. Holmes was for some time a member of the Provincial Council of Otago, and in 1871 was returned for Oreti in the re-united provinces of Otago and Southland, and held his seat for two years. He took a very keen interest in agricultural and pastoral matters, and was the first to introduce pedigree stock to improve the breed of Clydesdale horses and long-woolled sheep. Mr. Holmes was a liberal supporter of all agricultural and pastoral exhibitions, and his stock were not only known but famous in New Zealand, and even beyond it. Although never a very keen politician, Mr. Holmes regularly attended to his duties in Parliment. Mrs Holmes predeceased him by about four years, and they left a family of three sons and three daughters.

The Hon. John McLean , sometime of Redcastle, Oamaru, was born in 1818 in the Island of Coll, Argyleshire, Scotland, and in his early years followed farming. He came out to Australia in 1839, and entered largely into pastoral pursuits in Victoria. He then disposed of his runs to advantage, and crossed the Tasman Sea in 1854, when he was accompanied by his mother and two sisters. Mr. McLean landed in Canterbury, but subsequently removed to Otago, where he and his brother, Mr. Allan McLean, took up a large area of sheep-carrying country. At one time they occupied over 500,000 acres, and were the largest flockowners in New Zealand. In one year they shore nearly 250,000 sheep. Their Morven Hills run covered an area of 200,000 acres, and they had other properties. Morven Hills run was sold early in the seventies, and the brothers dissolved partnership. Mr. John McLean still owned over 60,000 acres of freehold land. Mr. McLean always took an active interest in public affairs. He was one of the earliest members of the Provincial Council of Otago, and was a member when the provinces were abolished in 1876. He was called to the Legislative Council in 1867, but resigned his seat in that branch of the Legislature in 1872. After settling at his beautiful seat of Redeastle, near Oamaru, Mr. McLean served as a member of the local road board, and was president of the North Otago Agricultural and Pastoral Association and of the Oamaru Caledonian Society. He died at Redcastle, on the 15th of July, 1902, after a long illness.

The Late Hon. J. McLean.

The Late Hon. J. McLean.

Major The Hon. Sir John Larkins Cheese Richardson , who was a member of the Legislative Council from 1867 to 1879, filled the position of Speaker for nearly the whole of that period. He was a Superintendent of the Province of Otago, and is else where referred to in that capacity.

The Hon. James Paterson was called to the Legislative Council on the 17th of June, 1869, and held his seat until 1884. He is further referred to amongst the former members of the House of Representatives.

The Hon. Robert Campbell was born in 1843 and educated at Eton, and when ninteen years of age he came out to New Zealand with his brother. They landed at Auckland, but made their way to Otago, where they purchased the Benmore station. Later on other properties were bought, amongst them Otekaike, which was selected by Mr. Campbell as his future home. Shortly after acquiring this property Mr. Campbell married the eldest daughter of the late Hon. T. Hawdon, of Christchurch. He first entered political life as a member of the Provinical Council of Otago, and was afterwards elected to represent Waitaki in the House of Representatives, in which he acted for some time as one of the whips of the Stafford Government. In 1870 he was called to the Legislative Council, of which he was a member at the time of his death. He was the first chairman of the Waitaki Country Council, and for some years an active member of the Oamaru Harbour Board. Mr. Campbell died on the 9th of December, 1889, at Dunedin, leaving a widow, but no children.

The Hon. Captain Thomas Fraser was born in 1809, at Ledclune, Inverness-shire, Scotland, and was the son of Captain Hugh Fraser. At the age of sixteen he entered the service of the East India Company, as an ensign in the 7th Bengal Cavalry, and retired seventeen years later with the rank of captain. He bore the reputation of being a gallant and daring officer. Two or three times he was shipwrecked, and on one occasion was the solitary survivor of a vessel which was wrecked off the coast of France. In 1858 Captain Fraser, having retired from the East India Company's service, embarked for New Zealand in the ship “Oliver Laing,” and arrived in Wellington in the same year. He came on to Otago, where he entered pastoral life, and bought a station at Shag Valley. In 1860 he entered the House of Representatives as member for Waikouaiti, and held the seat during the term of the Parliament. On the 13th of May, 1870, when the Fox-Vogel Administration was in office, he was called to the Legislative Council, and retained his seat until his death, which occurred on the 24th of June, 1891.

The Hon. William Hunter Reynolds , M.L.C., who was called to the Legislative Council in 1898, and retained his seat in that branch of the Legislature until his death in 1899, was born at Chatham, Kent, England, in 1822. He was the youngest son of the late Mr. Thomas Reynolds, lieutenant R.N., who, on account of ill-health, was obliged to leave the navy and settle in Spain and Portugal, where at an early age William Reynolds went to live on his father's cork plantations. After spending some years in the country in acquiring a knowledge of the cork and wine business, he went to London, where he represented a branch of his father's firm of Thomas Reynolds and Son. In 1850 he sailed in the schooner “Titan” for Otago, and shortly after landing became a partner in the firm of Messrs James Macandrew and Co., with which he retained his connection till 1858, after which he engaged in business on his own account, until his retirement in 1867. His political career commenced in 1853, when he was elected a member of the Otago Provincial Council, in which he held a seat, and occupied the position of Speaker for four years, until the abolition of the provinces in 1876. He was several times a member of the Provincial Executive and rendered valuable services in connection with the introduction of settlers for the province, having, upon one occasion, gone to Great Britain as Honorary Immigration Agent. In 1863 Mr. Reynolds was elected a member of the House of Representatives for Dunedin, which he continued to represent till 1876, and for two sessions subsequently he sat for Port Chalmers. He held a portfolio in four successive Governments; namely, in the Waterhouse Ministry, in the Fox Ministry, the Stout-Vogel Ministry. Mr. Reynolds was married, in 1856, to Miss Rachel Selina Pinkerton, daughter of Mr. William Pinkerton, runholder, of South Australia and Otago, and had a family of four sons and five daughters. He [gap — reason: illegible] at his residence, “Montecillo,” Dunedin, on the 1st of April, 1899.

The Hon. Richard Oliver , who was nominated to the Legislative Council in November, 1881, is referred to among the exmembers of the House of Representatives.

The Hon. John Bathgate , who was called to the Legislative Council in 1885, commenced his parliamentary career in 1871, as page 79 member for Dunedin, which he continued to represent till his resignation in 1874. In 1881 he was elected to represent Roslyn, but was defeated in 1884 by Mr. A. H. Ross. He was Minister of Justice and Commissioner of Stamps in the Waterhouse-Fox and Vogel Governments, and was for a short time Commisioner of Customs in the first of these ministries. Mr. Bathgate was born at Fountain bridge near Edinburgh, in 1809. He was educated at the Edinburgh High School, and afterwards studied law at the Edinburgh University. In 1835 he was admitted a Writer, and in 1844 became Procurator Fiscal of the county of Peebles, a position which he held for many years. Mr. Bathgate sailed for New Zealand in 1863, to take the position of colomial manager of the Bank of Otago. In 1870 he was elected to the Provincial Council, and shortly after became Provinoial Solicitor, with a seat on the Executive. Not long after his retirement from Parliament, in 1874, he was appointed district judge in Dunedin, and held that post for several years. Mr. Bathgate always took a deep interest in journalism. In 1844 he founded a newspaper in Peebles known as the “Peebles-shire Monthly Advertiser and Tweedside Journal”; in 1868 he occupied the post of manager of the Otago Daily Times Company, and in 1875 he and Mr. Thomas Bracken established the “Saturday Advertiser.” Mr. Bathgate, who died in September, 1886, was twice married. By his first wife he had four children, and by his second, who survived him by a few years, he had seven daughters and one son.

The Hon. S. E. Shrimski was born in 1830, at Posen, in Prussian Poland, where he received his early education. For twelve years he resided in London, and was afterwards in Melbourne. He arrived in New Zealand in 1861, and settled at Oamaru. Mr. Shrimski sat in the House of Representatives for about eight years, first as one of the members for Waitaki, and then as member for Oamaru. At his last election he defeated Viscount Reidhaven, afterwards Earl of Seafield, who, while leading the life of a colonist at Oamaru, succeeded his father as Earl of Seafield and Chief of Clan Grant in Scotland. Mr. Shrimski was called to the Legislative Council on the 15th of May, 1885, during the administration of Sir Robert Stout and Sir Julius Vogel. He had been Mayor of Oamaru, chairman of the Waitaki High School Board of Governors, and treasurer of the Oamaru Hospital Board. Mr. Shrimski died at Auckland, on the 25th of June, 1902.

The Hon. William Downie Stewart , sometime member of the Legislative Council of New Zealand, was born at Blairdrummond, near Stirling. Scotland. on the 15th of May, 1842. He studied law for some time in Scotland, but came out to the Colony when nineteen years of age, and entered the office of Messrs Richmond and Gillies in Dunedin in 1862. In 1864 Mr. Stewart became a pupil of Mr. James Prendergast (afterwards Chief Justice), who was then in practice in Dunedin, and, on the appointment of the latter as Attorney-General of the Colony, he was admitted in June, 1867, as a barrister and solicitor. He then began the practice of his profession. In 1879 Mr. Stewart was elected a member of the House of Representatives for Dunedin, and, on the defeat of the Grey Administration, again stood for Dunedin, and was returned a second time in the same year. He contested the Dunedin West seat at the election of 1880 against the Hon. Thos. Dick, but was defeated by eight votes. In 1884, however, he was returned by a small majority over the same opponent, and three years later he was successful in securing re-election, Mr. Dick again contesting the same seat with him. Mr. Stewart was in 1891 called to the Legislative Council, his being the last life appointment made by Lord Onslow. In 1879 he was offered but declined the office of Attorney-General in the
The Late Hon. W. D. Stewart.

The Late Hon. W. D. Stewart.

Grey Administation. Mr. Stewart in 1875 visited Britain, travelling through the United States, where he made a special study of the laws of various states; on his return to this colony he delivered a lecture to the Otago Law Students' Soclety on “English and American Law.” This lecture, which was republished in the States, suggested a number of legal reforms, most of which have since become law. Mr. Stewart advocated a code of procedure, and that the costs of an action should be fixed according to a scale; that prisoner in poor circumstances should have a right to counsel paid by the State; that confessions made to clergymen and communications made to physicians should be privlleged; that the rate of interest should be fixed; that there should be a Contractors' Lien Act; that the legal status of married women should be altered; that a betterment law should be passed; the abolition of primogenlture; and the fusion of law and equity. In 1879 he introduced a Bill to enable a woman to whom unchastity was imputed to bring an action for slander without proof of special damage. This reform has since been carried in England and Victoria. In 1885 he carried the Evidence Amendment Act, by which the Courts were entitled to take judicial notice of the laws of foregin countries, and under which an action for seduction may be brought without proof of loss of service. In 1879 he carried an Act by which deeds could be proved in the Magistrate's Court, without calling the attestin witness. This alteration of the law has proved a great benefit, and is re-enacted by section 89 of the “Magistrate's Court Act, 1893.” In 1884 he carried an Act making the publication of a false notice of birth, death, or marriage in a newspaper punishable by fine or imprisonment; and in the following year an amendment by which acknowledgment of deeds by married women was abolished, and an amendment in the “Administration Act, 1885,” by which executors and administrators may resign or be removed. After the maritime strike of 1890 Mr. Stewart prepared and carried to a second reading a Strikes and Arbitration Bill, the first proposal of the kind in the colonies to provide a means of settlement of differences between employer and employed. This Bill was the basis of the Industrial and Conciliation Act, passed in 1894 by the Seddon Ministry. In 1891 he carried several important amendments in the law relating to trustees. Mr. Stewart supported the extension of the franchise to women, and advocated trade protection for a young colony, and the reading of the Bible in public schools. In 1883 he again visited the United States and Canada. He took an active interest in all legal and social reforms. Mr. Stewart was married in 1868 to the youngest daughter of the late Mr. George Hepburn, of Waikari, Canterbury, who died ten years later, leaving two sons and two daughters. One daughter passed her art examination at Oxford. In 1881 Mr. Stewart married Miss Mary Thomson, youngest daughter of Mr. John Thomson, formerly Provost of Irvine, Ayrshire, Scotland. He died on the 25th of November, 1898.

The Hon. James Fulton was the third son of Major Robert Bell Fulton, of the Honourable East India Company's Bengal Artillery, and was born in 1830. He was educated at Blackheath Proprietary School, and in 1849 he came to New Zealand by the ship “Ajax,” in company with Mr. W. H. Valpy, a retired Indian judge, one of whose daughters he married in 1852. Mr. Fulton engaged in sheepfarming at West Taieri, but was soon afterwards appointed Resident Magistrate at Outram and Dunedin. At the general election in 1879 he was invited to become a candidate for the representation of Taieri in Parliment, and was returned as member. In 1882 he was returned unopposed, and he was again returned for the Taieri—but not without opposition—in 1884 and 1887, in each instance defeating Mr Carncross. He was chairman of the Taieri County Council, a member of the University Council, Otago Education Board, and the High Schools Board of Governors. Mr. Fulton was called to the Legislative Council in January, page 80 1891, but he died on the 20th of November, of the same year, leaving a widow, and a grownup family of three sons and three daughters. Speaking of him, the “Otago Daily Times” said: “He has probably not left an enemy behind him in the world. Upright in the highest degree, conscientious in everything he did, invariably courteous, he was widely esteemed as a private citizen, and respected as a public man by those on the opposite, as well as on his own side in politics.” Mr. Fulton is further referred to in the section devoted to old colonists.

The late Hon. J. Fulton.

The late Hon. J. Fulton.

Mr. John MacGregor , M.A., who was nominated to the Upper House by the Ballance Government in 1892, was born, in 1850, at Aberfeldy, Perthshire, Scotland. He studied at the University of Edinburgh, and graduated M.A. in 1874. In the year following he arrived in Otago, and was admitted a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of New Zealand in 1876. He has practised his profesion as a member of the firm of Messrs. Duncan and MacGregor in Dunedin since 1877. Mr. MacGregor introduced a “Divorce Bill” in the Councll, to put women in the same position as men in respect to divorce, and to provide that desertion, drunkenness, and conviction of felony should be grounds for dissolution of marriage. This Bill passed the Upper Chamber, and the second reading in the House of Representatives, but was included in “the slaughter of the innocents” at the end of the session. Mr. MacGregor was instrumental in securing the passing of the “Legitimation Act” of 1894. He afterwards resigned his seat in the Legislative Council.

Unusually High Tide at St. Clair, Dunedin. Armstrong, photo.

Unusually High Tide at St. Clair, Dunedin. Armstrong, photo.