Hume, Fergus, the well-known writer, is a native of New Zealand, where his father is part proprietor of a private lunatic asylum near Dunedin. He was bred up to the law, and was articled in the office of Sir Robert Stout, the well-known New Zealand statesman. His first story of any length, and that by which his name is best known, was "The Mysteries of a Hansom Cab," which was first published in Melbourne, where it created a sensation. Mr. Trischler, who had been connected with the publishing house in that city, conceived the idea of reissuing it in London, and bought the rights from the author, bringing the book out in England in 1888, where its circulation was something phenomenal. Subsequently the work was dramatised. Mr. Hume came to reside in London soon after the reissue there of "The Mysteries of a Hansom Cab." In 1889 he produced "Madame Midas," and has written three books each year since. In 1889 he also published "The Piccadilly Puzzle"; in 1890 "The Gentleman who Vanished," "The Man with a Secret," and "Miss Mephistopheles"; in 1891 "A Creature of the Night," "Monsieur Judas: a Paradox," "Whom God hath joined," and "The Year of Miracle." In 1892 Mr. Hume produced "The Island of Fantasy," in three volumes.
Hume, Walter Cunningham, J. P., entered the Queensland Civil Service as a second-class surveyor in the Lands Department in June 1864. In the following year the office was abolished, but in May 1868 he was reinstated; and was appointed Mineral Land Commissioner at the Stanthorpe Tin Mines in 1872; District Surveyor and Land Commissioner at the Darling Downs in 1875; and Under-Secretary for Public Lands and Chief Commissioner of Crown Lands in March 1885.
Humffray, Hon. John Basson, first Minister of Mines in Victoria, was an early settler in the great gold mining district of Ballarat, in Victoria, and took a prominent part in the agitation for the repeal of the obnoxious gold miners' licences, which culminated in 1854 in the conflict between the miners and the military at the Eureka stockade. Mr. Humffray personally was, however, always in favour of constitutional methods as opposed to physical force. In 1856 he was returned to the first Legislative Assembly of Victoria as member for North Grant. In Nov. 1860 he was appointed Commissioner for Mines in the Heales Government, and was thus the first Ministerial head of the Mining Department of Victoria. He resigned with his colleagues in Nov. 1861, and did not again take a prominent part in political life. He resided at Ballarat, where he died on March 31st, 1890.
Hunt, Robert, C.M.G., was appointed Deputy Master of the Mint in Sydney in Jan. 1878, and was created C.M.G. in 1888. He is the son of Henry Leigh Hunt and Ellen (Simpson) his wife, and was born in London on June 30th, 1830. In 1853 he was appointed first clerk of the Bullion Office, Sydney Mint, and arrived in New South Wales in 1854. Mr. Hunt was transferred to Melbourne in 1870, where he remained until he received his present appointment. He married at St. Leonards, N.S.W., on Nov. 25th, 1860, Miss Mary Paul.
Hutchinson, Right Rev. Monsignor John, O.S.A., Bishop of Maximinopolis, and Vicar-Apostolic of Cooktown, Qd., was consecrated in St. Mary's Cathedral, Sydney, on August 28th, 1887.
Hutton, Captain Frederick Wollaston, Professor of Biology, Canterbury College, N.Z., son of the Rev. H. F. Hutton, was born on Nov. 16th, 1836, at Gate Burton, Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, and educated at 8outhwell and the Royal Naval Academy, Gosport. Failing to get an appointment in the navy, he entered the merchant service in 1851, but afterwards studied civil engineering. In 1855 he entered the 23rd Royal Welsh Fusiliers, and went out to the Crimea. In the army he served also in China, in India through the Mutiny, at Malta, and in Ireland. He was gazetted captain on Dec 18th, 1862, but in Nov. 1865 sold out and emigrated to New Zealand. Here he was appointed by the Provincial Government of Auckland to report upon certain gold and coalfields. Subsequently he reported upon the defences of the various harbours in New Zealand. Captain Hutton was successively Assistant Geologist to the Geological Survey, teacher of Natural Science in Wellington College, and in 1873 Provincial Geologist of Otago. In Feb. 1877 he was made Professor of Natural Science in the University of Otago, and in Oct. 1879 became Professor
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