Page:The Dictionary of Australasian Biography.djvu/223

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DICTIONARY OF AUSTRALASIAN BIOGRAPHY.
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many geological and topographical discoveries in that region, and a report of his explorations was printed by the Government. In 1861 he was appointed Provincial Geologist of Canterbury, and made numerous scientific expeditions into the unknown uplands and into Westland, the results being embodied afterwards in a volume on the geology of the provinces of Westland and Canterbury. In recognition of these services the Royal University of Tubingen granted him the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in 1862, and he was made a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1867. Dr. von Haast was instrumental in founding the Canterbury Museum in Christchurch, which has the reputation of being the finest in the southern hemisphere, and of which he was director down to the time of his death. In 1872 he joined in founding the Canterbury Collegiate Union, from which sprang Canterbury College, in affiliation to the New Zealand University, of which he was a Fellow and a member of the Senate. From its foundation till his death Dr. von Haast was Professor of Geology and Palaeontology in Canterbury College. In 1862 he founded the Philosophical Institute of Canterbury. In 1884 he received the gold medal of the Royal Geographical Society, the first bestowed for exploration in New Zealand. In 1886 he went to England as Commissioner for New Zealand at the Colonial and Indian Exhibition, and in the same year was created K.C.M.G., having previously been C.M.G. He died after his return to New Zealand, on August 15th, 1887. Sir Julius von Haast married in 1863 Mary, daughter of Edward Dobson, C.E., M.I.E.C., of Christchurch, N.Z. (q.v.), who still survives.

Habens, Rev. William James, B.A., Inspector-General of Schools, New Zealand, was born at Brighton in 1839, and educated at Puget School, in that town, and at Hackney College, London. In 1862 he graduated at the London University, and in Jan. 1864 went to New Zealand as minister of Trinity Congregational Church, Christchurch, a position which he held till July 1878. From Jan. 1877 to May 1878 he was Secretary to the Canterbury Board of Education, and in April 1878 was appointed Inspector-General in the New Zealand Education Department. In 1879 to 1880 Mr. Habens was a member of the Royal Commission to inquire into the operations of the New Zealand University and its relations to the secondary schools. He also acted as secretary to the commission, and in 1880 was appointed a Fellow of the New Zealand University. Since 1886 he has performed the duties of Secretary for Education in addition to those of Inspector-General.

Hack, John Barton, one of the pioneer colonists of South Australia, was the descendant of one William Hack, who died at Froyle, Hants, in 1699, and was the son of Stephen Hack, banker, of Chichester in Sussex, by his marriage with Maria Barton, sister of Bernard Barton, the Quaker poet and friend of Charles Lamb. Mrs. Hack was the author of "Grecian Stories," "English Stories," and other works, which had a large circulation in their day. John Barton Hack was born at Chichester on July 2nd, 1805. Having decided to emigrate, he first went to the Cape, and thence to Tasmania, proceeding to South Australia in Feb. 1837, three months after the colony was founded. From Tasmania he brought a considerable number of sheep and cattle in the ship Isabella, which he chartered for the purpose, and which was commanded by Captain John Hart, afterwards several times premier of South Australia. There was great difficulty in securing suitable land for farming operations, owing to the backward state of the Government surveys; but ultimately Mr. Hack took up a property at Mount Barker, most of his stock having in the meantime perished. Having considerable capital, he engaged in commercial pursuits, and became probably the principal merchant in Adelaide. In the meantime he carried on his agricultural operations at Mount Barker, opened a dairy farm at Yankalilla, and associated himself with the South Australian Company in whale fisheries at Encounter Bay. The whaling was conducted under the supervision of Captain Hart, but involved Mr. Hack in heavy pecuniary losses. His ruin was completed in the financial crisis which resulted from the dishonour of Governor Gawler's drafts on the Home Government. Most of the business residents were in his debt, and he was mixed up in government contracts and transactions. Mr. Hack was the first colonist of South

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