Mr. Alexander James Willis, J.P., Clerk to the Executive Council, and Secretary to the Premier and Cabinet, is an old public servant. Born in 1827 at Cape Colony, he removed in 1834, with his parents, to Tasmania, where he was educated. In 1840, he was appointed clerk in the Controller-General's office in the Imperial Convict Service, remaining for twelve years. In 1852, Mr. Willis had some experience on the Victorian diggings, and afterwards entered the service of that colony as superintendent of the convict hulk, which position he held for two years. Mr. Willis came to New Zealand in 1861, and at once entered the Otago Provincial Government service in the office of the Provincial Secretary. Subsequently he was appointed Under-Secretary and also Resident Magistrate and Goldfields Warden, residing in Dunedin. In 1878 he joined the General Government service, in the Land Tax Department, and three years later, when the business was concentrated in the Empire City, he was transferred to Wellington. Mr. Willis was promoted to the position of Secretary to the Cabinet in 1885. He is an unattached member of the Masonic fraternity, having been a member of the Otago Kilwinning Lodge. In 1871 he was married to Miss Nicholson, daughter of the late Rev. Mr. Nicholson, an early settler in Nelson and Marlborough. Mr. Willis's family consists of seven daughters and five sons.

Photo by Wrigglesworth and Binns.

Mr. Thomas Hutchinson Hamer, Private Secretary to the Premier, and Chief Clerk in the Mines Department, is the eldest son of the Rev. Thomas Hamer, now living in quiet retirement in Wellington, but for a great many years well and popularly known as a Congregational minister in Auckland. Here the subject under notice was born in 1855, and here, too, he was educated, at the Auckland Wesley College, under the headmastership page 51 of Mr. John Fletcher, and at Mr. Farquhar McRae's High School. In 1872 Mr. Hamer entered into the service of the Auckland Provincial Government, in the Superintendent's Office, where he remained until the abolition of the provinces. He then joined the Bank of New Zealand, and went to the Thames. Two years later (1878) he came to Wellington, and found employment under the General Government as clerk in the Mines Department at its inception. In 1887, under the Stout-Vogel Administration, Mr. Hamer was acting Under-Secretary for Mines, but on the Department being amalgamated with that of Lands, the Under-Secretaryship was vested in Mr. Huntly Eliott, and Mr. Hamer was appointed Chief Clerk. In January, 1891, Mr. Hamer became Private Secretary to the Hon. Mr. Seddon, who was then Minister of Mines, and on the assumption of the Premiership by that gentleman, Mr. Hamer continued in the capacity of Private Secretary. In social matters Mr. Hamer has been prominent for many years. In Auckland he was for a long time captain of the Manukau Cricket Club; and as a member and prizewinner of the Wellington Amateur Athletic Club he has long been well-known at the Capital. In 1883 Mr. Hamer was married to Miss Isabella Rayner, of the Hutt, who died on the 26th of September, 1890, and in October, 1893, he married Miss Dollimore, the daughter of Mr. W. Dollimore, of Lyell, on the West Coast, by whom he has a son.

Mr. James Gray, Assistant Private Secretary and Shorthand and Typewriter to the Premier, was born in Auckland in 1872, and was educated in his native city. On leaving school he entered the Auckland Star office, and, after going through the usual routine, joined its literary staff—a good position for one so young. Early in 1894 Mr. Gray joined the Civil Service in the capacity above mentioned.

Mr. James Gray.

Mr. James Frank Andrews, Confidential Shorthand Writer to the Premier, is the youngest son of the late Henry John Andrews, who in the early days was Coroner for the City of Auckland, and doctor of the Provincial Hospital. The subject of this notice was born at Plymouth, Devonshire, on the 26th June, 1848, and his family came to New Zealand in 1849. He is therefore almost a native of this Colony. He was educated at the Church of England Grammar School, having received a scholarship from the late Bishop Selwyn, afterwards Bishop of Lichfield. On completing his education in 1865, he entered the Customs service, where he remained until 1870, having gone through the several branches of the department. When the San Francisco mail service was started, he left the Customs and took a trip to the Sandwich Islands, where he remained some months visiting the different islands of the Hawaiian Group. In October, 1871, he left for Starbuck Island in the schooner “Sea Breeze,” which was wrecked on the island after loading guano. The brig “Moa,” Captain Robertson, brought the shipwrecked crew on to Melbourne, whence Mr. Andrews left for Greymouth, on the West Coast of New Zealand. He was for seven years on the gold diggings in Okarito, and was one of the first batch of diggers which arrived at the Haast rush in 1873. He came to the Kumara in 1877, where he was employed for some time by the Hon. Mr. Seddon. He then left and worked at Donnelly's Creek, Ross, for a short time. Not being fortunate, he decided to give up the gold diggings, and left the West Coast for Dunedin, Otago, where he joined the telegraph service. This he left the in 1888, and came to Wellington, where he joined the Public Works Department as an extra clerk. Mr. Andrews now determined to devote himself to the study of shorthand. In 1892 he accompanied the Earl of Onslow, Governor of New Zealand, and the Hon. Mr. Seddon, Minister for Public Works, as page 52 the latter's Private Secretary, on a tour through the West Coast goldfields, from Westport right through South Westland, visiting the glaciers of the Southern Alps, thence through the Haast Pass into Otago. On arrival in Wellington, the Governor's Private Secretary having gone to England, Mr. Andrews took his place until Lord Onslow's departure for England, when His Lordship presented Mr. Andrews with a letter of thanks and a silver inkstand mounted in ivory. In May, 1892, the Hon. Mr. Ballance expressed a wish to have Mr. Andrews attached to his staff, and Mr. Seddon consenting, he was accordingly appointed shorthand writer to the Premier. When Mr. Ballance was taken so ill at New Plymouth, Mr. Andrews accompanied him to Wellington, and on the death of the late Premier, he again joined Mr. Seddon's staff on the latter's assumption of the Premiership. He was all through the Northern Maori district and the Uriwera County with Mr. Seddon and Mr. Carroll, and took a verbatim note of all the native meetings, which forms the subject of a Parliamentary paper. Mr. Andrews is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and is a Master Mason. His mother Ledge is “Pacific” No. 1229. E.C. He has not affiliated.

Mr. J. F. Andrews.

Mr. R. H. Govett, Private Secretary to the Hon. Sir P. A. Buckley, K.C.M.G. (Colonial Secretary), Deputy Clerk of Writs of the House of Representatives, and Chief Clerk in the Colonial Secretary's Department, has for many years been an officer of the General Government. He is a painstaking and capable official.

Mr. William Crow, Private Secretary to the Hon. the Minister of Education, is a native of Lawrence, Otago, and was educated at the Lawrence District High School. He is an undergraduate of the New Zealand University, and after matriculating, kept two years' terms at the Otago University. Mr. Crow holds the Education Department's certificate for shorthand, having passed the examination four years ago at the maximum test of 150 words a minute. In 1877 he entered the Civil Service in the Post-office at Lawrence. Four years later he was transferred to the Dunedin Telegraph office, where for twelve years, with the exception of three sessions spent in the operating room of the Wellington Telegraph Office, he filled the position of telegraphist. Leaving Dunedin in June, 1893, he became assistant private secretary to the Hon. J. G. Ward, and remained with the Colonial Treasurer continuously from December of that year till his departure for England in January, 1895. After the session of 1893, Mr. Crow was for three months shorthand writer and typewriter in the Secretary's branch of the General Post-office. As a cyclist he was a frequent prize-winner, both on the road and on the track, and for a year held the position of secretary of the Dunedin Cycling Club. Mr. Crow has achieved distinction as a swimmer, having been thrice second in New Zealand Championships, twice in Christchurch at 100 yards, and once at Ashburton at a quarter mile, in addition to holding the championship of Otago for several years.

Mr. W. Crow.

Mr. Benjamin Marcus Wilson, Expert Shorthand Writer to the Justice Department, and Private Secretary to the Minister of Railways, is a son of Mr. B. Wilson, of the Government Printing Office. Born at the Thames, in 1870, he was educated at Wellington College. Mr. Wilson began to learn shorthand before leaving college and became proficient. On leaving college he entered the office of Messrs. Buckley, Stafford and Tread-well, solicitors, leaving there to join the Government service in February, 1893, as expert shorthand writer in the Justice Department, which position he still holds. While with Messrs. Buckley and Co., Mr. Wilson passed the barristers' general knowledge examination. The subject of this notice has taken great interest in cricket, in which sport he is an all-round player. He is a member of the Wellington Cricket Club, and represented Wellington in the match against Hawkes Bay in 1892, when his team was successful.

Mr. B. M. Wilson.

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.

Mr. D. Mckenzie.

Mr. Oliver Mewhinney, Shorthand Writer to the Hon. the Minister of Lands, was born in Dunedin, New Zealand, and received his education in that city. On the completion of his studies he became attached to the staff of the Dunedin Evening Herald, on which journal he received his journalistic training, and made his first acquaintance with the public. Later on Mr. Mewhinney was one of the founders of the Globe, and filled the responsible position of chief reporter on that newspaper for a number of years, and during that time took an active part in the various social questions of the day. Mr. Mewhinney was a member of the New Zealand Institute of Journalists, and for some time had a seat on the committee of the Dunedin branch of the Institute. After eight years as a member of the Fourth Estate he resigned and entered the Government Service. In 1893 he entered the Lands and Survey Department in Wellington as Shorthand Writer, and afterwards joined the Hon. the Minister of Lands in the same capacity.

Mr. Frank Hyde, Secretary to the Colonial Treasurer, was born in Wiltshire in 1865. Educated at the local Grammar School, he commenced to practice shorthand at the age of fifteen. His first experience was in London, where he was in several page 54 offices. Afterwards Mr. Hyde turned his attention to journalism, being employed on the Brighton Daily Gazette, the Middlesex County Times, and other papers, for a period of about seven years in all. In 1886 Mr. Hyde married Miss Louisa Rebecca Coombes, of Kent; his family consists of two daughters. Mr. and Mrs. Hyde decided to emigrate to New Zealand in 1889, and arrived per s.s. “Ruapehu” during the same year. Mr. Hyde found employment on the Evening Press, and subsequently established himself as a professional shorthand and typewriter, and he was occasionally employed by the Government. He first entered the Government Service as private secretary to the Public Trustee, and shorthand writer to the office. In June, 1893, he was transferred to the position he now holds. On the return of the Hon. Mr. Ward from England Mr. Hyde met his chief at Fiji.

Mr. Reginald Arthur Pyke, Private Secretary to the Hon. J. Carroll, is a son of the late Hon. Vincent Pyke, well-known in Australia and New Zealand as a politician and author of note. The subject of this notice was born in Sandhurst, Victoria, in 1859, and came to Otago with his father when but four or five years of age. He was educated chiefly at the Lawrence High School, afterwards joining the New Zealand Civil Service, wherein he served for several years. In 1891 he resigned and joined the Fourth Estate, taking over the Dunstan Times newspaper, in Central Otago, which he conducted for some years. On taking over the paper it was soon seen that Mr. Pyke possessed in a marked degree those gifts for which his father had been noted as a journalist. Under his editorship the paper quickly came to the front rank among country newspapers in Otago, and was largely quoted owing to the vigour and brilliancy of its articles. In 1894, when the Tuapeka constituency became vacant, owing to the death of his father, Mr. Pyke was solicited to stand for the vacant seat, and was promised large support if he did so; but thinking he could afford to wait, he declined to accede to the request. As it was, he threw his influence and abilities into the contest in support of the Government candidate, and it was largely due to his efforts in the upper end of the electorate that the present member was enabled to come in at the head of the poll. While in the district Mr. Pyke exercised his energies and abilities in the support of everything having for its object the advancement of Central Otago. Amongst other things, he started the Vincent Horticultural Society, which has been the means of drawing the attention of the New Zealand public to the exceptional capabilities of the climate and soil of that county for the cultivation of fruit. Mr. Pyke, wishing to have a larger field for his energies, gave up the paper in 1895, and in February of that year he left the district. Before leaving he was presented with a purse of sovereigns, and at the time of the presentation several speakers alluded in eulogistic terms to the able manner in which he had conducted the Dunstan Times, and to the public services he had rendered to the district.