Mr. Charles Edward Morton Horneman, Private Secretary to the Minister for Public Works, is the eldest son of Mr. Morton Horneman, farmer, of Hawera, and grandson of Captain Frederick E. Horneman, who emigrated to New Zealand in page 1496 the early days and settled in the Nelson Province. He was born in 1872 at Waikare, North Canterbury, was educated at Hawera, and on leaving school he entered the office of the Hawera and Normanby Star to learn the trade of a compositor. Nearly three years later Mr. Horneman secured an engagement in the office of Messrs McCutcheon and Co., grain and produce merchants, where he gained a good knowledge of mercantile life during a period of two years. Owing to failing health he went to the South Island, where he found a change of scene and employment on a sheep-station very beneficial. In 1892 he entered the Civil Service in Wellington as a clerk in the Public Works Department. Having learned shorthand during his period of work in the Empire City, he was, in February, 1896, selected for the position of Private Secretary to the Hon. Mr. Hall-Jones. Mr. Horneman lakes considerable interest in athletics generally, and is a member of the Wellington Football Club.