Mr. Arthur William Lane, Junior Partner of the firm of Messrs Dearsley and Lane, was born in 1866, at Bedford, England. and was educated at Northampton. After leaving school he was apprenticed to Mr. C. C. Becke, solicitor, of Northampton. He arrived in Christchurch in 1883, and entered the office of Mr. Joyce, with whom he remained for about three years. He then joined his father, who was proprietor of the Canterbury Hotel at Lyttelton, and was subsequently at the Somerset Hotel, Ashburton. After leaving Ashburton he joined Mr. Dearsley in the house and estate agency business. Mr. Lane was a member of the Canterbury Volunteer Engineers Corps for about three years, and afterwards joined the N Battery of Artillery at Lyttelton. He was also a member of the Ashburton Fire Brigade, was captain of the Ashburton Cricket Club, and was for years an energetic member of the Christchurch Midland Cricket Club.