THE FORTIFICATION COMMISSION.

Globe, Volume VIII, Issue 927, 14 June 1877, Page 3

THE FORTIFICATION COMMISSION.

The English Government have instructed Sir W. Jervois and Lieutenant Scratchley to visit New Zealand, witli a view to reporting upon its harbor defences. Some account of their history and accomplishments may therefore not be uninteresting to our readers. In " Men of the Time " we find the followmg account of Sir William Jervois : "Lieutenant-colonel William Francis Drummond Jervois, eldest son of the late General Jervois, Colonel of the 76th Regiment, was born in 1821, and having passed at Woolwich, entered the Royal Engineers in 1839. Having completed the usual course of study at Chatham, he was ordered to the Capo of Good Hope in 1841, and was actively employed in that colony upwards of seven years in various capacities. In 1842 he acted as Brigademajor in an expedition against the Boers, and during the three following years was professionally engaged at various frontier stations, making roads, building bridges, &c. In 1845, having been appointed Acting Adjutant to the Royal Engineers, he accompanied the Chief Engineer over the whole frontier of the Cape Colony and the settlement of Natal, and in the eai-ly part of 1846 lie was Major of Brigade to the garrison of Cape Town, until the arrival of Sir 11. Pottingcr as Governor, and Sir G. Berkeley as Commander-in-Chief, with whom he proceeded to the frontier against the Kaffirs. During the Kaffir war he made a military survey and map of Kaffraria, a work of great difficulty, ably executed. From 1848 to 1852 he commanded a company of Sappers at Woolwich and Chatham; in the latter year was ordered to the island of Alderney for the purpose of designing plans for the fortifications and the superintendence of their execution, and in 1854 was {promoted to the rank of major. In 1855 Major Jervois was transferred to the London district as Commanding Royal Engineer, and -was nominated by Lord Paninure, a member of a committee on barrack accommodation, whose labours contributed much to the improvements which have of late years taken place in the construction of barracks, as well as in the sanitary condition of our troops. In 1856 lie was appointed to the post of Assistant-In-spector-Gen era! of Fortifications, under Sir John Burgoyne, and on the appointment of a Royal Commission to report upon the defences of the country he was selected by the Government to be secretary. He was a member of the special committee on the application of iron to ships and fortifications. In 1861 he attained the rank of Lieut.-Colonel, in 1862 was appointed Deputy-Director of Fortifications under Sir John Burgoyne, and in 1863 was nominated a Companion of the Bath, and was sent on a Special Commission to report on the defences of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, on which occasion he visited the fortifications at the principal ports on the seaboard of the United States. In 1864 he was again sent on a special mission to Canada, to confer with the Canadian Government on the question of the defence of that province. On his return to England his report was laid before Parliament, and the Imperial Government undertook to carry out the defences of Quebec on the plan recommended by him. In addition to his post at the War Office, Colonel Jervois is Secretary to the Defence Committee, under the presidency of H.R.H. the Duke of Cambridge." A correspondent, signing himself " Ex-Royal Engineer," sends the following concerning the other member of the commission to the Auckland Herald: —

" Having had my attention called to a part of the history of Colonel Jervois, E.E., which appeared in your issue this morning, I have thought it might be acceptable to give you a short account of the past services of the gentleman who accompanies that distinguished officer. I refer to Colonel Seratchley. Colonel Peter Henry Seratchley was bom in the year 1835, being the sou of an eminent clergyman of London. He finished his education at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, passed his examination with credit to himself, and obtained his commission as lieutenant in 1853. In the following year he proceeded to the Crimea, where he was actively engaged in front of Scbastopol until the peace of 1856. He returned to England, and in the following year the Indian Mutiny took place. Ho accompanied the 4tn. Company of Royal Engineers, under command of Major Nicholson, as senior lieutenant. He served all through that memorable campaign. Major, then Colonel Nicholson, being wounded on Christmas Eve, 1858, the command devolved upon Lieutenant Seratchley, and although a very young officer at the time, his services and ' indomitable pluck well qualified him for the position. He obtained his captaincy in 1859, and in the December following his company was ordered to China, under Sir Hope Grant, that general expressing his confidence in the young captain. He proceeded with his company to Calcutta, but after having marched all the way from Lucknow—a distance of 674 miles—he was informed that the authorities at home had despatched a company overland from England direct. For some time previous to this the Victorian Government had been contemplating the erection of harbour defences, and had made application to the Home authorities for an experienced officer to carry on the work. Captain Seratchley was selected for this service, arriving in ' Melbourne in June, 1860. After fulfilling his mission, which occupied about three years, he returned to Europe, Avhere he has been employed on various important services ever since.