ESQUIRE OF ST. JOHN,

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1720, 10 April 1913, Page 6

ESQUIRE OF ST. JOHN,

$ HONOUR FOR A NEW ZEALANDEIU,. A mcssago received from England yesterday announces that the distinction of Esquire of tho Order of St. John of Jerusalem has just beon conferred on ' Mr. W. B. Fisher, of Wellington, by his Majesty tho King, in recognition of conspicuous service on behalf of the Order . in Dunbdiii and Wellington.' Tho honour carries with it certain privileges specifically defined, and tho recipient is tho first New Zealander to bo selected as aa "Esquiro of St. John." He is -the fifth son of tho late Mr. W. B. Fisher, who camo, to Nejv Zealand in tho barque Cecilia, which arrived ot Port Chalmers in 1861. • For twenty-five years he has been identified with humanitarian work, carried out under tho aegis of tho Order, and was practically tho founder of tho New Zealand branch of the St. John Ambulance Brigade. This organisation exists for tho purpose of succouring tho sick and injured in pe.icc and war, particularly in .war,'as instanced by tho record of some 1800 British Brigade members in South Africa over ten years ago. The title of "Esquire" is a very old one, being the third grade in the illustrious Order of St. John, instituted in the eleventh century, alul sanctioned • by a Bull of Pope Pascalll in 1113, about tho timo that Baldwin II was the Latin King of Jerusalem. Its subsequent history for hundreds of years is stored in the ' archives of various civilised nations, which show that the knights, Indies, and esquires of tho Order were inspired to defend the Cross of Christianity against tho Crescent of tho infidel. Tho English . branch of the Order was suppressed by Henry YIII, and revived by Queen \ ictoria, who bccatno its sovereign, head. Its subsidiary organisations m tho British Empire have been numerous and us?ful, and it initiated or established tho National Society for Aid to the Sick and Wounded in War, Cottage Hospitals in County Districts, the British Ophthalmic Hospital at the \ ictoria Hospital at Cairo, District Nurses for tho l'ocr tho. St. John Ambulanco Association, Almoners' Departments for tho Relief of l'oor Convalescents, etc. The Order also awards medals and diplomas for deeds of gallantry in saving life on land, so that its motto, ."Pro- fide, pro utilitato hoiniuum," is singularly appropriate. Even in New Zealand tho organisation of St. John is becoming lar-reach- ■ inir in many localities through/the instruction imparted by the medical profession, and tho location of ambulance , vans, carriages, niul litters, wiiilo ilio work carried out by the District Nursing Guild of SI. John for tho benefit of tlio % sick poor in Wellington is widely known imd greatly appreciated. For oyer two decades a largo number of ladios and gentlemen have co-operated in promoting tho aims of St. John in this Dominion, and Jlr. Fisher gratefully wishes to re- ( cord the liberality of • Wellington citizens to tho institution which lie is so deeply interested in. ,