OBITUARY

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2439, 19 April 1915, Page 6

OBITUARY

CAPTAIN E. J. EVANS. Captain E. J. Evans, Marine Superintendent in New Zealand for the Shaw, Savill, and Albion Company, sustained a very severe apoplectic stroke on Friday morning, and passed away at an early hour yesterday morning without having recovered consciousness. Tha late Captain E. J. Evans was born on April 17, 1854, at Skotty, near Swansea, South Wales. After leaving school ho was for a short time in a solicitor's office at Swansea, and then, at the age of _ sixteen, commenced his apprenticethe sea service in sailing vessels trading between South Wales and the West Coast of South America. After serving as officer in steamers and sailing vessels trading to the United States, the Black Sea, a)id India, he obtained his certificate as extra master at the age of'2s, and in_a few months joined Sir Donald OurrieV Castle Line of steamers trading between England and South Africa. In 1884, when the South African trade was in a declining condition after the peace of Majiiba, he' left the Castle Line with several other officers and joined the Shaw, Savill, and Albion Company as second officer of the Tainui, the predecessor of tho present ship of that name. On the retirement of Captain Barlow, who first commanded the Tainui, Captain Evans was appointed to the command at the age of 35. In 1893 he went as the company's representative on board the former which was carrying troops to Cuba for the Spanish Government. He then returned to the New Zealand trade, commanding in turn the Matatua and the Aotea. In 1902 he was appointed Marine Superintendent in the North Island for the company, a position which he held up to the date of his death.

One of the most interesting of Lis voyages was a short trip which he made in September, 1883, as an officer on board the Castle liner Pembroko Castle. The vessel made a cruise among the islands off the coast of Scotland and to Copenhagen, the partly including Sir Donald Currie, the Hon. W. E. Gladstone, Lord Tennyson, and the present Mrs. Asquith. At Copenhagen Queen Alexandra (then Princess of Wales) and her daughters, the lato Tsar of Russia (Alexander III), the King and Queen of Denmark, and the King and Queen of Groeco were entertained on hoard the ship. The lat« Captain Evans leaves a ■widow, two daughters, and one son (Mr. H. E. Evans, who is on the staff of Messrs. Bell, Gully, Bell, and Myers). MR. JAMES MEACHAM BATHAM. The death (rccurred in a private hospital in Auckland on Saturday of Mr. James Meacham Batham, of Khandallah, Wellington, formerly a Native Land Court Judge. The deceased, who was 75 years of ago, was born at Kidderminster, England.. 'He was the son of a solicitor, and was educated privately for the law. Arriving in Wellington in 1864, he entered tho Civil Service in 1871, and' became Examiner of Titles for Westland, and subsequently Registrar of the Supreme Court and District Land Registrar. In 1875 he was transferred to Auckland, and tho .following year to Napier as District Land Registrar -and Deputy-Commissioner of Stamps. In 1881 he was transferred to Christchurch, and on February 1, 1896, was made District Land Registrar and Registrar of Deeds at Wellington. Subsequently the deceased was made a Judge of the Native Land Court, a position he hold up to some eight years ago. For many years he had resided at Khandallah. He wa& a, man of sterling character, and ■ was held in great respect by all who knew him.