Captain Henry Fisk, who formerly traded regularly between Blenheim and Wellington, with the s.s. “Pania,” and is now (1905) pilot at the Wairau bar, was born in Suffolk, England, in 1842, and served an apprenticeship to ropemaking. He afterwards went to sea, and served his time at South Shields in the barque “Emily,” which was engaged in the Mediterranean and Baltic trade. At the expiration of his apprenticeship, he visited St. John's, New Brunswick, and shipped in an American vessel. During the American civil war, he was trading on the American coasts, and in the West Indies. In 1862, Mr. Fisk left the American trade, and shipped in the “Star of Tasmania,” and after making a trip to London, he sailed for New Zealand. On landing at Dunedin, he left the sea, and went with many others to the goldfields, where he spent three years, and was fairly successful. Mr. Fisk, however, returned to the sea, and entered on a course of study which enabled him to take his certificate of competency for the coasts of New Zealand. He was afterwards in charge of various well known sailing vessels and steamers, and was most fortunate, largely owing to his careful and steady navigation. So competent a mariner has he proved to be, that in 1896, he received from the New Zealand Government the appointment of colonial pilot for the whole of the New Zealand coasts, and is now stationed at the bar of the Wairau. Captain Fisk has been a Freemason for more than forty years. He has six sons and three daughters, all grown up.