Mcowan
Death Of Mr. I.
THE death occurred in Sydney on April 4 of Mr. Islay McOwan, CMG, who was one of the most highly esteemed and respected of the retired Public Ser vants of Fiji. He was 77 years old and had been suffering some illness during the past two years.
Mr. McOwan was born and educated in Melbourne, and became a clerk in the office of the Colonial Secretary, Fiji, in 1892. During the ensuing 15 years he rose step by step in the Administrative ser vice, being stationed successively in Lau, Navua, Lomai Viti and Levuka. He was Acting Native Commissioner in 1913, and was in command of the Fiji Defence Forces when World War I came.
From 1917, for ten years (except for a year as Acting Colonial Secretary) he was British Agent and Consul in Tonga; and then, from 1926 until his retirement in the middle thirties, he was Secretary for Native Affairs. He filled numerous other important positions temporarily— he acted as Colonial Secretary and Gov ernor’s Deputy several times, and was Acting Governor on at least two occa sions. He was, of course, a member of the Executive and Legislative Councils.
It was said of him that if he had joined the Service from England instead of Aus tralia, he would have been an outstanding colonial Governor.
Mr. and Mrs. McOwan lived in Auck land for several years, and about 1941 they moved to Sydney. Mr. McOwan, all his life was a notable athlete, and in his later years, in Sydney, he was an active member of the Cammeray, Manly and Long Reef Golf Clubs. He is survived by his widow and by one daughter (Mrs.
Judd, a resident of Fiji).
Mr. Brian Charles Shaw was enter tained by family friends in Wagga, NSW, recently, on the occasidn of his 21st birth day. He was born in Samarai, Papua, where his father Mr. Ron J. Shaw was relieving the late Mr. George Aumuller as manager of the BP branch Mr.
Shaw was well known in Papua and New Guinea during two decades. Brian is a grandson of the Rev. Charles Rich, who was at one time stationed in New Guinea.