Mr. John A'Deane, sometime of “Ashcott,” Takapau, was born at Ashcott, Somersetshire, England, in the year 1826, and was the eldest son of an army surgeon. He received his education at Grosvenor College, Bath, and was afterwards for a few years in the Taunton branch of a banking house, of which his uncle was a director. Mr. A'Deane came out to New Zealand in 1855, in company with his only brother, and for many years experienced the hardships of pioneering work in Hawke's Bay. After a few years' experience on various stations, chiefly in the Waipukurau district, he took up an extensive area near Takapau, which he named “Ashcott,” after his native village. This property had formerly been held by the Crown, and was at that time almost entirely covered with fern and native bush. The clearing of this country was successfully accomplished by Mr. A'Deane, and Ashcott of to-day is one of page 398 the finest properties in Hawke's Bay, and bears witness to his energy and perseverance. In 1863 Mr. A'Deane went to the Old Country, and in the following year married the only daughter of Mr. Robert Deane Bayly, of “Allderley House,” Kilcott, Gloucestershire, and soon afterwards returned to New Zealand. Ten years later he again went Home, and continued to live there, first at Richmond, and afterwards at Hampstead, until his death, which took place on the 31st of August, 1889. Mr. A'Deane took an active part in public life, and for several years was a member of the Hawke's Bay Provincial Council, of which he was elected Speaker just prior to his final departure from the colony. He was also a Justice of the Peace, and a member of many local bodies. Mrs. A'Deane survived her husband for fourteen years, and died in London, in July 1903. Of the marriage there were seven children—three sons and four daughters. The eldest son. Mr. J. R. Bayly A'Deane, is further referred to as proprietor of “Ashcott”; the second, Mr. Walter W. W. A'Deane, who graduated at Oxford, and qualified as a solicitor, is now in business in London; and the youngest son, who was preparing for a military career, died at Haileybery, from injuries received from playing football. The eldest daughter is living in England; the second is married to Major W. Glasgow, of the Queen's Regiment; the third is married to Mr. R. Weightson, a barrister and a member of Lloyd's; and the fourth is married to Captain Coke (son of Major-General Talbert Coke), who holds an adjutancy in Wales.