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

Military

Military.

The Third Battalion Of The Otago Rifles consists of A Company (Queen's Rifles) under Captain J. M. Forrester, and Lieutenants C. Armstrong and Forsyth; B Company (Oamaru Rifles) under Captain E. H. Barber, and Lieutenants H. Appleby and Laurenson; C Company (Hampden Rifles) under Captain McWilliams, Lieutenants Lefevre and Paterson; D Company (Palmerston Rifles) under Lieutenants McDonald and Clarke; E Company (Alexandra South Rifles) under Captain Laidlaw and Lieutenants McMath and Carr; F Company (Queenstown Rifles) under Captain Porter and Lieutenant Reid; G Company (Cromwell Rifles) under Captain Warburton and Lieutenant Mackenzie and Jolly; and H Company (Duntroon Rifles) under Captain C. B. Morris and Lieutenant D. Grant. The staff of the battalion consists of Lieutenant-Colonel A. Headland, V.D., Major R. Mahan, Adjutant Captain C. F. Stubbs, Pay and Quartermaster Captain R. M. Robertson, Surgeon-Captain J. Whitton, Chaplain the Venerable Archdeacon H. G. Gould, Sergeant-Major D. M. Pryde, and Quartermaster-Sergeant A. Smith. Staff-Sergeant-Major F. W. Kibblewhite is the Staff Instructor.

Lieutenant-Colonel Headland , V.D., the officer commanding the Third Battalion Otago Rifle Volunteers, is the eldest son of Mr. A. J. S. Headland, J.P. Lieutenant-Colonel Headland was born in London in 1855, and came to Port Chalmers, with his parents, by the ship “Agra,” in 1858. He was educated as a teacher, but after serving for seven years under the Otago Education Board, he entered business life. On the 31st
Lieut.-Col. Headland.

Lieut.-Col. Headland.

page 508 of March, 1873, he became lieutenant of the Oamaru Grammar School Cadets, and shortly afterwards joined the Oamaru Rifle Volunteers On being promoted to the lieutenancy of the latter company on the 8th of March, 1878, he resigned his commission in the Cadets. He became captain of his corps on the 17th of October, 1880, and major of the First Battalion North Otago Rifles on the 8th of October, 1888. Seven years later he received his commission as major of the Otago Battalion; on the 10th of May, 1897, he was appointed to the command of the North Otago district, and on the 17th of July, 1899, was gazetted lieutenantcolonel. The district was, with others, abolished in January, 1902, and Colonel Headland is now in command of the Third Battalion Otago Rifle Volunteers. He holds the New Zealand long service medal, and was one of the first five officers in the South Island to receive the Imperial Volunteer Officers' Decoration.

Major Robert Mahan , who is on the staff of No. 3 Battalion, Otago Rifles, has had a long experience as a volunteer. He served five years in the Timaru Artillery Cadets, and joined the Oamaru Rifles as a private in 1882, on his arrival in the district. Shortly afterwards he gained the rank of sergeant. At the time of the Russian scare Mr. Mahan transferred to the Naval Artillery, and was soon afterwards elected sublieutenant. Two years later he became lieutenant-commanding, and afterwards had charge of the corps. He is a son of Mr. A. Mahan, schoolmaster, Geraldine, and was born in 1862, in County Longford, Ireland. After completing his elementary education he learned the business of a photographer, and has been well-known in Oamaru since 1886. He is referred to in another article in connection with the firm of Mahan and Muir, photographers.

Captain Forrester , of the Queen's Rifles, is referred to elsewhere in this work in his capacity as an architect.

Captain Edward Hounsfield Barber , of the Oamaru Rifles, commenced his volunteer experience in 1890, when he joined the St. John's College, Cadets, in Auckland. During his subsequent visit to London he had some experience at Aldershot. Then, after returning to the colony, and during his residence at Tomoana, he became lieutenant in the Hawke's Bay Mounted Rifles, and while at the Bluff he became captain of the Bluff Guards. Since settling at Oamaru he has been elected to the captaincy of the Oamaru Rifles. Captain Barber is referred to in another article as manager at Oamaru for J. Mill and Co.

Quartermaster-Sergeant Alfred Smith , who is a staff officer of the Third Battalion, Otago Rifles, joined the I Battery of Artillery in Oamaru on the 2nd of March, 1892. Subsequently he became Colour-Sergeant in the Queen's Rifles, from which he was drafted to the staff office he now holds. Mr. Smith is referred to in another article as a member of the firm of Smith and Jamieson, builders and contractors, Oamaru.

Mahan and Muir, photo. Quartermaster-Sergt. A. Smith.

Mahan and Muir, photo.
Quartermaster-Sergt. A. Smith.

Staff Sergent-Major Frederick William Kibblewhite , of the Third Battalion Otago Rifles, was born in 1837 at Purton, Wiltshire, England, and was educated at national schools. He joined the Second Battalion Devonshire Regiment, with which he left for India on the 7th of February, 1877. On the 22nd of October, 1881, he was promoted to the rank of First Class Instructor on the Bengal Unattached List, and continued a member of the Devonshire Regiment till it left India. He was transferred to the 99th Regiment as supernumerary on the Bengal Unattached List, and when that Regiment left India he was transferred to the 30th Regiment in the same capacity. He holds the medal for the Afghan war of 1878–9–80, the good conduct and long service medals, and was also recommended for the meritorious medal, with an annuity, in September, 1895. He also received two Viceroy-of-India silver medals as the best shot of Bengal, and one bronze medal as second best shot, also the National Silver Medal of England. Mr. Kibblewhite twice gained the Championship of the Indian Rifle Association, and also the Bombay Rifle Association Silver Medal, and took third place for the Championship of the whole of India, Aden, and Burmah under the Indian Rifle Association. Besides these trophies, he gained two shields at the Interregimental Matches, the National Silver Cup, and two Instructors' Champion Shot Cups and other prizes. Sergeant-Major Kibblewhite left India for New Zealand on the 1st of March, 1897, and reported himself to the military authorities in Wellington, when he was sent to Dunedin as Staff Sergeant-Major, being transferred to Oamaru on the 1st of November, 1899. Altogether he served twenty years in India out of twenty-one years two hundred and ninety-two days of Imperial service. During his experience as a marksman Mr. Kibblewhite competed at Bisley, where he won the eighth prize presented by the “Graphic” newspaper. He was married in India on the 6th of June, 1881, to a daughter of the late Mr. Michael Dempsey, of County Galway, Ireland, and has four sons and five daughters.

Mahan and Muir, photo. Sergt.-Major F. W. Kibblewhite.

Mahan and Muir, photo.
Sergt.-Major F. W. Kibblewhite.

Captain Arthur William Gillies has been in charge of the North Otago Mounted Rifles since 1900. He joined the corps in 1893 as corporal, and has advanced through the various grades of the service to his present position. Mr. Gillies is further referred to as chairman of the North Otago Farmers' Co-operative Association.