working telegraphist, as well as a supply of instruments, batteries, etc. After much negotiation the enterprising young Canadian scientist was employed to establish telegraphic communication between Melbourne and its port, Williamstown. This short line, which was fully opened to the public in March 1854, was the first south of the equator, and served to form the basis of the now gigantic telegraph system of Australia. From 1854, the date of its formation, to 1869 Mr. M‘Gowan held the office of Superintendent-General of the Electric Telegraph Department of Victoria, and upon the amalgamation of the Postal and Telegraph Departments, in the latter year, he was appointed Inspector-General of the conjoint services. Upon the retirement of Mr. William Turner, Mr. M‘Gowan became Deputy Postmaster-General. He was an officer of the local Torpedo Corps, and an energetic member of the Royal Society of Victoria. Mr. M‘Gowan married, on June 30th, 1857, Annie, eldest daughter of the late Major Henry Wm. Benson, CM., of Kingston, Ontario. He died on April 18th, 1887, shortly after his return from a visit to Europe and America.
MacGregor, Duncan, M.A., M.B., son of James MacGregor and Isabella his wife, was born at Fortingall, Perthshire, Scotland, on Dec. 14th, 1843, and married at York Place, Edinburgh, in Dec. 1870, to Miss Mary Johnston. In Aug. 1870 he was appointed Professor of Mental Science in the University of Otago, N.Z., a post which he resigned in 1886. From 1876 to 1882 Dr. MacGregor was medical officer of the Dunedin Lunatic Asylum, and in April 1886 was appointed Inspector-General of Asylums and Hospitals in New Zealand, a position he still holds.
MacGregor, Sir William, K.C.M.G., M.D., administrator of British New Guinea, was born in 1846, and was brought up to the medical profession. He was admitted L.R.C.P. Edinburgh and M.B. Aberdeen in 1872, and M.D. of the latter university in 1874. He successively held the appointments of assistant Government medical officer at the Seychelles, superintendent of the lunatic asylum and resident surgeon at the Civil Hospital at Port Louis, Mauritius, assistant surgeon Royal Lunatic Asylum at Aberdeen, and surgeon and house physician at the Royal Infirmary, Glasgow. He was chief medical officer of Fiji from 1875 to 1877 and Receiver-General of the colony from 1877 to 1888, when he was appointed administrator of British New Guinea, in succession to the late Sir Peter Scratchley. He has received the Albert (second class) and Clarke medals for saving life at sea. He represented Fiji at the Federal Council of Australasia in 1886, and several times administered the government of Fiji, and acted as High Commissioner and Consul-General of the Western Pacific. Since his appointment as administrator of British New Guinea he has done some of the most remarkable exploration work yet achieved. He was created C.MG. in 1881 and K.C.M.G. in 1889.
McIlwraith, Hon. Sir Thomas, K.C.M.G., M.L.A., LL.D., Colonial Treasurer of Queensland, is the son of the late John McIlwraith, of Ayr, Scotland, and was born there in 1835. He was educated in his native town and at Glasgow University. Having studied engineering, he emigrated to Victoria (whither his elder brother had preceded him) in 1854, and was employed as a civil engineer on the Victorian railways, and also in the same capacity by Messrs. Cornish & Bruce, the well-known railway contractors, whose cause célèbre against the Victorian Government he was mainly instrumental in bringing to a successful issue. In 1861 Mr. McIlwraith became largely engaged in squatting pursuits in Queensland, and in 1870 finally settled in that colony, where the year before he had been returned to the Legislative Assembly for Maranoa. He was Minister for Public Works and Mines in the late Mr. Macalister's Government from Jan. to Oct. 1874, when he resigned. In 1878 he was elected for Mulgrave; and on the defeat of the Douglas Ministry in Jan. 1879 became Premier of the Colony, with the appointment of Colonial Treasurer. Two years later he exchanged this post for that of Colonial Secretary, and remained Premier until Nov. 1883, when he resigned with his colleagues, the general election having resulted in a majority for his successor, Mr. (now Sir) Samuel Griffith, who carried two adverse votes against him. The defeat of Sir Thomas, who was created K.C.M.G. in 1882, was mainly brought about by his proposal to construct the Queensland
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