Mr. Alexander Smaill Is the fourth son of the late Mr. Charles Smaill, of Tomahawk, who arrived by the ship “Strathallan,” in 1858, accompanied by Mrs Smaill, five sons and three daughters. He was born at Corstorphine, Edinburgh, Scotland, and at the age of nine came with his father to New Zealand. Like the sons of other pioneers, he began hard work at an early age, and was engaged with his brother in cutting bush on the property their father had bought at Tomahawk: he also helped to build the house into which the family moved in 1860. The walls were made of ferntree, and the roof covered with manuka scrub and raupo. This primitive residence was neat and comfortable, but has long since been replaced by a handsome two-storey stone dwelling, standing in extensive ornamental grounds. Mr. Smaill has carried on dairy farming for years, and has largely extended the area of the original property bought by his father. He has always taken a leading part in the affairs of his district, and has been a member of the Tomahawk Road Board for fourteen years, and its chairman for nearly the whole of that period. In respect to local drainage, Mr. Smaill has been a most determined opponent of what is known as the Bird Island scheme. He is a member of the Agricultural and Pastoral Society and of the Dairymen's Association. As a volunteer, Mr. Smaill served for six years in the Naval Brigade and five years in the Otago Hussars. He successfully manufactures a superior hematite paint discovered page 394 on his property, and was awarded a silver medal at the Otago Jubilee Exhibition in 1898 for specimens of this useful industrial product. Mr. Smaill married Miss King, daughter of an old colonist who arrived by the ship “Robert Henderson,” and there is a family of five sons and two daughters.