Marshall, James, Farmer, Doyleston. Mr. Marshall is a son of the late Mr. David Marshall. He was born in Scotland, in 1845, and accompanied his parents to New Zealand. For many years he helped in the pioneer work on his father's farm at Lakeside. In 1882, he bought his present property, which consists of about 180 acres. He is a member of the Ellesmere Agricultural and Pastoral Association. Mr. Marshall married Miss Jane Shaw, a daughter of Mr. William Shaw, a very well known colonist, and there is a family of two sons.

McLachlan, John, Farmer, Doyleston. As Mr. McLachlan represents Ashburton in the House of Representatives, the sketch of his life appears under the chief town of that electorate—namely, Ashburton itself.

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Osborne, Job, Farmer, Winfield Farm, Doyleston.—Mr. Osborne was born in Somersetshire, England, in 1842. When fourteen years of age he removed to London, and in, 1859 he came to New Zealand, in the ship “Cresswell.” A few years later he visited the goldfields of Otago, where he passed a year with fair success. he then returned to Canterbury. Mr. Osborne first bought land at Prebbleton, and was for several years engaged in contracting for roads and railways A year or two later he sold out at Prebbleton, and moved to the Ellesmere district, where he bought the first portion of his present farm from the Crown in 1864. It was heavy swamp land covered with rank vegetation—toi-toi, flax and raupo. The area was at first gradually increased until it reached to 230 acres, but Mr. Osborne now owns 2130 acres. His land is devoted chiefly to the raising of white and green crops, and the fattening of sheep for the export trade. Mr Osborne was the first to introduce threshing machinery into the Doyleston district. He has, however, a colonial reputation as a sinker of artesian wells, for which he devised and patented a method of his own many years ago He first began to sink for the public in April, 1888, when he sank a 2-inch well for the Christchurch Drainage Board on the Windmill Road, now Willowbank. Before that time a 2-inch well sunk by hand to a depth of 200 feet cost £100. Now it is done by means of Mr. Osborne's machinery for about one-fourth of that sum. Mr. Osborne has seven deep-well machines at work, and each machine requires two men to work it. All deep-well sinkers in New Zealand now use the Osborne machine. In the Maniototo Plain, Central Otago, a depth of 654 feet has been reached with a two-and-a-half-inch pipe; at Wellington a depth of 815 feet has been reached; and at Cheviot a depth of 825 feet. At Wanganui water has been obtained with a 2-inch pipe from a depth of 675 feet, with a yield of 180 gallons per minute, and propulsive power rising to fifty and sixty feet. This is the record result for the North Island. In Gisborne, Mr. Osborne has sunk wells, which not only give a plentiful water supply, but gas as well. The gas is used for lighting cooking and other purposes. Wells have also been sunk successfully at Palmerston North, Longburn, Awahuri, Waitara, and Tura kina, and nearly in every district where the Osborne machine has been tried, it has led to success. This has been the case, not only in the North Island but at Christchurch, and throughout the Ellensmere district, and north of Christchurch as far as Rangiora. Probably this method of boring for water will yet be applied with success to the discovery of minerals; indeed it has been used in boring for coal at Poponga, Collingwood, Nelson, and for oil at Gibsborne. Mr. Osborne has served on the Ellesmere Road Board and on the River Board of Conservators. He was married, in 1867, to Miss Jamieson, and has one son and two daughters. Mr. Osborne has visited Australia twice since his first arrival in New Zealand. In 1884, his wife and daughter accompanied him to America, England, Scotland, Ireland and Paris. The party returned by way of Cape Colony. A year later Mrs. Osborne, with a nephew, visited England, and brought Mr. Osborne's mother out to New Zealand, she being at that time eighty-three years of age. After three years' resihere, she died at Tai Tapu, and was buried at Lincoln.