Mr. Duncan McKenzie, son of the Hon. John McKenzie, Minister of Lands, for whom he acts as Private Secretary, was born in Shag Valley, near Palmerston South, in 1871. He was educated at the Palmerston South High School, and turned his attention to farming pursuits on leaving. For about five years Mr. McKenzie had good experience, chiefly among sheep. He entered the Public Service as Private Secretary to the Hon. the Minister of Lands in 1894.