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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Otago & Southland Provincial Districts]

Dr. John Hislop

Dr. John Hislop , LL.D., F.R.S., Edin., long and honourably connected with education in the Old World and in New Zealand, was born in 1821 in Pentland, Midlothian, Scotland. He was educated at Edinburgh and succeeded in gaining the first prizes in all classes he attended at the Edinburgh School of Arts, now the Watt College, and at the conclusion of the prescribed course was awarded its diploma. In his eighteenth, year he became assistant master at the Burntisland grammar school, and after two years was appointed assistant master in the school at Lasswade, his native parish. He afterwards attended the Normal School and Edinburgh University, and was successively a master at the parish schools at Colinton, Cults, and Kirknewton; at the last school he remained nearly twelve years. In 1855, Mr. Hislop applied for and obtained an appointment as a teacher under the provincial government of Otago, and arrived in Port Chalmers on the 2nd of October, 1856, by the ship “Strathmore.” His first school in Otago was at East Taieri, where he remained four years and a half. In 1861 he was appointed secretary to the education board and inspector of schools in Otago, and performed the difficult and arduous duties of the dual office for a number of years. He had a large share in the establishment of the Boys' and Girls' High Schools, Teachers'Training School, School of Art, and the District High School. On the establishment of the Otago University, in 1869, Mr. Hislop became its first secretary and registrar, but retired in 1871. On the establishment of the Caversham Industrial School in 1869, the duty of organising and supervising it was entrusted to Mr. Hislop, in conjunction with the late Mr. St. John Branigan. For some years before he left Dunedin in 1878, to become the first Secretary of the newlyformed Education Department at Wellington, Mr. Hislop was a member of the committee of the Benevolent Institution. He also took much interest in the Caledonian Society's evening classes for youths. Among other offices filled by him, was that of Superintendent Census Enumerator for Otago under the Colonial Government. A record of the
The Late Dr. J. Hislop.

The Late Dr. J. Hislop.

services rendered to the public by Mr. Hislop would be incomplete without reference to the Education Bill, which was drafted by him and passed its second reading in the House of Representatives in 1871. The measure was subsequently dropped, and it was not till the session of 1877 that the Education Act, embodying the greater proportion of the clauses drafted by Mr.Hislop, came into force. Before entering on his duties at Wellington, in January, 1878, Mr. Hislop was presented in Dunedin with a massive silver vase and an address from 165 teachers who had served page 386 under him, as a token of their gratitude, confidence, and goodwill. About the same time he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Early in 1882, when the Education Department had been brought into good working order, Mr. Hislop was granted a year's leave of absence to visit Great Britain. Before leaving the Colony, he was entertained at a public dinner in Otago, and a sum of money was placed in his hands with which to procure a life size portrait of himself in oils. The painting, which was obtained from Horsburgh, Edinburgh, now adorns the walls of the University library. For his well Known services in the cause of education, the Senatus of the University of Edinburgh-his own alma mater-conferred upon him the honorary degree of LL.D. on the occasion of his visit to the Old Country. On returning to New Zealand, Dr. Hislop resumed his position in the Education Department, from which he retired in March, 1886. From that time he resided in Dunedin, rendering useful services in various public capacities, as member of the Hospital Board of Trustees, Otago Education Board, and Dunedin City Council. Dr. Hislop was chairman of the Otago Industrial School Board of Advice, visiting Justice of the Dunedin gaol, member of the commission for periodically read justing the parliamentary districts of the Colony, a director of the Mosgiel Woollen Factory Company, Ltd., and supervisor in Dunedin for examinations in matriculation at the University; but from these positions he retired owing to advancing years. Dr. Hislop had long been an elder of Knox church, and was a member of the Masonic Order, in which he held the position of Grand Master under the Scottish constitution. He was married in 1846 to Miss J. Horne, of Caithness-shire, and had four sons—Messrs Walter, John Alexander, Thomas William, and G. R. Hislop—all well known in the Colony, and one daughter, widow of the late Dr. Hugh Macdonald, of Lyttelton. [Dr. Hislop died at Dunedin on the 19th of May, 1904, after this article was in type.]