SIR PATRICK ALPHONSUS BUCKLEY.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2363, 31 May 1892, Page 4

SIR PATRICK ALPHONSUS BUCKLEY.

(Oamaru Mail.)

As we mentioned yesterday in a brief notice of the newly-created Knight Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George, Sir Patrick Alphonsus Buckley is a true son of Erin, who delights, or did delight before the cares of office devolved upon him, in a good joke, and many racy anecdotes are told of him. In the Resident Magistrate’s Court of Wellington, when he was a comparatively young barrister, he invariably afforded a good fund of amusement for all present, when he had a case in hand, and he especially delighted in “ taking down ” anyone of an autocratic bearing. Those who were associated with Mr Buckley in the Wellington Artillery, of which he was first captain, tell some good anecdotes about him, and one or two of these will suffice to show how he secured the goodwill and ready obedience of those who served under him, as well as the peculiar jovial devilment that characterised many of his actions. The first of these goes back to the time of the visit of the Duke of Edinburgh to Wellington. His Royal Highness, who was the guest of the Governor (Sir George Bowen) was announced to embark early in the morning to leave for Auckland, and the Volunteers were ordered out to provide a guard of honor and fire the customary royal salute. The parade was called for six o’clock, and from that hour until eight the Artillery were kept standing upon a vacant piece of the reclaimed land waiting for the embarkation of royalty. Then came an orderly to say that the Prince would go on hoard privately, and that not one salute was to be fired. The manner in which this order was received by Captain Buckley may be judged from what follows. “ Boys,” said he, “ Colonel Reader has just sent word that the Prince is going on board privately, and that, after standing here all this time, we are to go home without firing a gun. Now what do you say 1 Will you stop here with me, and we’ll fire a salute ? ” Of course the decision. was in the affirmative. Shortly afterwards the boat with the Duke of Edinburgh put off’ from the wharf near Government House, and the fact that his Royal Highness was quitting Wellington was duly proclaimed by the Artillery’s three six-pounder Armstrong guns. When the regulation twenty-one guns had been fired, the strains of the National Anthem were given out by the band. Then Captain Buckley addressed the battery somewhat in this fashion : “ Now, boys, you can go home. We’ve done our duty. We’ve fired the royal salute and done honor to tire son of our noble Queen.” It is needless to say that, as Captain Buckley afterwards put it, there were “ ructions ” over this disobedience of orders ; but the whole matter was settled by Captain Buckley paying the cost of the ammunition. The authorities were glad to get out of the matter in this easy way for the sake of the genuine enthusiasm that Captain Buckley infused into the volunteer movement at a time when, in the North Island at any rate, there was great need for enthusiasm, and because it was impossible for anyone not to admire the happy and good-hearted men and officers who had been guilty of the breach of discipline. As for Captain Buckley, he said he was delighted to pay for the ammunition, for, he afterwards told the men, “ it would be impossible for anyone to say that a sou of our Most Gracious Sovereign had been allowed to leave the capital of New Zealand without a gun being fired.” It must not be imagined that Captain Buckley’s view of volunteering was that it should be a means of enjoyment. His corps were as well-drilled and orderly as any that the colony has ever produced, and that he was no feather-bed or show soldier is evidenced by the following story ; —Just after the disastrous fight at Te-Nugu-o-te-Manu, in which Von Tempsky, Buck, Palmer, Hunter, Hastings, and many other gallant fellows were killed by the bullets showered upon them by Maoris lodged in trees, there was a parade of the Wellington Artillery, and Captain Buckley said lie would like to have a “ pop ” at the Maoris with the Armstrong <runs, He said he was ready to go to “the front ” and called for volunteers to accompany him. N early the whole of the members of the battery at once gave in their names, and without any delay an offer to take the field on active sendee was made to the Defence Minister. No one was more disappointed than Captain Buckley when a reply was received from Sir Donald McLean stating that as the rebels were located in places inaccessible to artillery, he had to decline the offer with the best thanks pf the polony.

Just one other anecdote must be told, and this has a local bearing. “ I shall never forget Oamaru,” said Sir Patrick to the writer a few years ago. “At Oamaru,” said he, “ I saw something that did my heart good,” Off being asked what that something was, he replied, “An Irish jaunting car—the only one that 1 have seen since I left old Ireland, When I got off the train at your station I saw the car standing there, and, as befits an Irish gentleman on such an occasion, I lifted my hat to it, and bowed. The people thought I was bowing to them, but, bless you, I wasn’t troubled about the people. It was the Irish jaunting car that I was paying my obeisance to, I went up to the driver, and, giving him os, told him I hadn’t many minutes to stay in Oamaru, but to drive me as far as he could in the time and for the money.” On being informed that the jaunting car had disappeared, Sir Patrick replied in a regretful tone, “ Then your beautiful little town has lost one 5 /its greatest charms, and erne thing that gave it distinction.”

The Mail gives other anecdotes for which we have not space. We may add to the above that Sir P. A. Buckley was born in the County of Cork about 50 years ago. He was educated for the priesthood, but when the war broke out, and the papal throne was threatened, he relinquished his collegiate studies, and joined “ The Pope’s Brigade.” The waxover, he came to Australia, and eventually found his way to Wellington, where he practised his profession as a barrister and solicitor. H® married a daughter of Sir William Fitzhorbert, late Speaker of the Legislative Council, and was raised to the Legislative Council by the Grey Government. '