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DICTIONARY OF AUSTRALASIAN BIOGRAPHY.
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master-General, in succession to the late Mr. Raikes. He has been for some years past a director of the Bank of New Zealand.

Fergusson, Major John Adam, is the third son of the late Sir Charles Dalrymple Fergusson, Bart., and younger brother of Sir James Fergusson (q.v.). He was born on May 7th, 1845, and educated at the Edinburgh Academy and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. He passed first on the list for a direct commission in the army in 1865, and was appointed to the Rifle Brigade. After serving in India, he was private secretary to Sir James Fergusson, and Clerk of the Executive Council South Australia from 1870 to 1873. He passed the Staff College in 1878, served on the staff of the Intelligence branch of the Horse Guards in 1879, and was Garrison Instructor in North Britain from 1879 to 1880; when, having in the meantime become Captain of the Prince Consort's Own Regiment of the Rifle Brigade, he was appointed Deputy-Assistant Adjutant-General of the South Australian military forces, with the local rank of major. In 1881 he was commissioned by the South Australian Government to proceed to India and arrange for the introduction of Coolie labour into the Northern Territory. Subsequently returning to England, he unsuccessfully contested Peterborough in 1883, and, having been promoted to major, was Deputy-Assistant Adjutant-General in Ceylon from 1887 to 1889. Major Fergusson, who is now serving with the Rifle Brigade in India, married, in 1871, Sarah, daughter of Joseph Gilbert, of Pewsey Vale, S.A.

Finch-Hatton, Hon. Harold, is the son of the 9th Earl of Winchelsea and Nottingham, by Fanny Margaretta, eldest daughter of Edward Royd Rice, of Dane Court, Kent. He is the younger brother of the 11th and present Earl, and was born at Eastwell Park, Kent, in 1856, and educated at Eton and Balliol College, Oxford. When nineteen, Mr. Finch-Hatton went out to Queensland, where he remained until 1883, engaging, in the first instance, in pastoral pursuits in the Mackay district, and subsequently going in for hard work as a practical miner on the Nebo goldfields. A pleasant record of his colonial experience is to be found in "Advance, Australia!" a book from his pen, which has gone through two editions. Mr. Finch-Hatton is a warm upholder of the integrity of the empire, and was one of the founders of the Imperial Federation League, of which he has been treasurer since its start. In politics he is a staunch Conservative, and at the general election in 1885 contested Nottingham in this interest against Mr. Arnold Morley, the Liberal whip. The contest was in the nature of a forlorn hope, and Mr. Finch-Hatton was defeated by a majority of 991. In 1886 and 1892 he again stood but was beaten by his former opponent. Mr. Finch-Hatton is an ardent advocate of the development of the Pacific route to Australia and the East, and has been secretary of the Pacific Telegraph Company, formed for the purpose of laying a line from Vancouver Island to Australia, since its establishment. When the North Queensland Separation League extended its organisation to the Metropolis, Mr. Finch-Hatton was appointed permanent delegate and chairman of the London committee. These offices he still holds, and it is in a great degree owing to his energy in the cause that it has arrived at its present prominence in the eyes of the Colonial Office, and of English public men.

Fincham, James, Engineer-in-Chief for Tasmania, was born in London in 1838. He was for a number of years employed as Assistant and Resident Engineer' on various railway works in England, in surveys for railways and architectural work in connection with railway stations. In 1872 he went to Tasmania as District Engineer for the Tasmanian Main Line Railway, then in process of construction, and subsequently had charge of the whole line as Engineer. He returned to England in 1876, and was shortly afterwards selected by the Government of Tasmania for the appointment of Engineer-in-Chief for the colony. His appointment dates from April 1877.

Finlayson, John Harvey, J. P., is the son of William Finlayson by his marriage with Helen Harvey. His parents arrived in South Australia in Feb. 1837, and he was born at Helenholme, Mitcham, near Adelaide, on Feb. 3rd, 1843. He joined the staff of the South Australian Register and Adelaide Observer in 1861, became one of the proprietors in 1877 and editor of the Register in

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