PERSONAL

Taranaki Daily News, 4 July 1921, Page 4

PERSONAL

The condition of Mr. J. Rennie, of Waitara, who has been ill for some time, is causing his friends anxiety. Mr. W. E. Spencer, the officer in charge of school building for the Education Department, arrived in New Plymouth by the express on Saturday night. Lord Northcliffe, it is announced, will visit Australia this year (says a cable from London). The Hon. G. J. Anderson was operated on Saturday and is progressing satisfactorily, says a Wellington Press message.

Mr. S. E. McGregor, inspector of factories, Hamilton, has been transferred to New Plymouth. Sir William Fraser is in a private hospital in Wellington in. consequence of an attack of pneumonia. The engagement is announced of Misal Neta Hodges, only daughter of Mr. J. WJ I Hodges, of Palmerston North, to Dr. Donald Mackay, of Eltham. Mr. J. N. Mcßae, assistant town clerk at Waihi, has been appointed town clerk at Morrinsville, for which position there were 00 applicants. Mr. H. W. Hilton, manager of the North Dunedin branch of the Bank of New Zealand, has retired after thirtyeight years’ service. The death is reported of Mr. Thomas Flower, of Bulls, at the age of 77. Deceased’s parents were among the first settlers in Nelson, where Mr. Flower was born in 1844. The death occurred in London a few days ago of Mrs. Arthur H. Nathan, formerly a resident of Auckland, and mother of Mr. Charles I. Nathan and Mr. Louis N. Nathan, of Auckland. The death has just occurred of another old resident of Auckland in the person of Mrs. T. R. Nixon, at Brighton Road, Parnell, at the age of 64. Mrs. Nixon was born in Ayr, Scotland, in 1857. She cajne to New Zealand in January, 1879. Dr. Colin Anderson, lately housesurgeon of the Christchurch Hospital, who went to Di verpool some months ago to further his studies in radiology, lias gained a two-years’ X-ray research scholarship (cancer, etc.), of £490 per year, at Manchester University. A Rotorua message reports the death on Saturday of Stephen Thomas Brent, the proprietor of Bathgate House, aged 87. He was a member of the old Rotorua Town Board and a Justice of the Peace. He leaves a widow but no children.

Mr. D. M. Wilson, late district surveyor of Kaitaia, has returned to New Plymouth and has taken over the duties of chief draftsman of the Lands Department. Mr. Wilson, at the'instigation of Mr. S. Percy Smith, has been making some researches and surveys for the Polynesian Society in the far north.

Mr. Alexander Leek, whose death is reported, was an old and popular resident of Port Chalmers. The deceased, who was eighty years of age, was town clerk of the borough from 1879 to 1913. Since retiring, he had takep a great interest in the local Old Identities’ Association, of which body he was assistant secretary.

Mr. John H. Chapman, of H.M. Customs, Wellington, has accepted an appointment in the secretariat of the League of Nations, Geneva. The appointment, which was made by the Dominion Government, was offered through the High Commissioner’s office and the League of Nations intimated that it wanted someone from New Zealand to fill the position. Mr. Chapman will be the first New Zealander to be attached to the staff of the League. His selection may be taken as a compliment paid to the Dominion. Mr. Chapman will leave New Zealand by the Arawa, accompanied by his wife and family, for London en route for Geneva on July 20. A cable from Sydney announces the death of Sir John Russell French, general manager of the Bank of New South Wales. Sir John French became general manager of the Bank of New South Wales in 1894. He was bom in India in .1847, and joined the bank in 1860. He has been president of the Sydney Chamber of Commerce and of the Associated Chambers of Commerce of Australia. He was a director of the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. The flag at the New Plymouth branch of the Bank of New South Wales was flown at halfmast on Saturday on account of the death of Sir John French. Another of the band of early pioneers, in the person of Mr. Edwin Lightfoot, who died at Auckland this week, has passed away at the age of 88 years. Mr. Lightfoot was well -known in the hardware trade, having been connected with that business for many yeans in Auckland. He was a native of London, and as a young man joined the 65th Regiment, serving 12 years with the colors and rising to the rank of instructor at the Hythe School of Musketry. When war broke out in New Zealand he came with a draft of the regiment and saw much service throughout the Taranaki and Auckland campaigns. When the troops went back to England he elected to take his discharge in New Zealand, and had resided in Auckland ever since.