Alexander Christian Keiller Fife

Mr. Alexander C. Fife, Accountant for New Zealand Railways, who for nearly thirty years has been in the Civil Service of the Colony, hails from Forfarshire, Scotland, where he was educated. Born in 1839, Mr. Fife entered official life on leaving school in the Scottish North Eastern Railway. He speedily rose in the service of the Company, with whom he remained for upwards of twelve years, attaining the position of assistant manager. Mr. Fife left Scotland shortly after the amalgamation of the Scottish North Eastern Railway with the Caledonian Railway in 1866, coming to Lyttelton, New Zealand, per ship “Mermaid.” For some time after reaching the Colony he was employed as a schoolteacher in the Christchurch Academy in Christchurch. In 1868 an opportunity of utilizing the knowledge gained in Scotland was presented, and on the 1st of May Mr. Fife entered upon the duties of cashier and paymaster for the Canterbury Railways. In five years his services were recognised by promotion to the position of Railway Accountant, which he has held for upwards of twenty years. With Dr. Prins, Mr. J. S. Williams (now Mr. Justice Williams), the late Rev. C. Fraser, Dr. Turnbull, and others, he took a leading part in promoting the establishment of the present Free Public Library and reading-room in Christchurch. He was honorary secretary of the Literary Institute for six years. This Society had considerable property, and, in order to extend the usefulness of tne institution, its committee agreed, towards the close of 1873, to pass over to the governors of the Canterbury College, on behalf of the Provincial Government of Canterbury, all its property—consisting of half-an-acre of very valuable land with all the buildings, furniture, and upwards of 4000 books, on the following conditions:—(1) That a free public library and reading-room should be established and maintained; (2) That the circulating branch should be continued, a small fee being chargeable for that purpose; and (3) That this portion of the library should at all times contain at the very least as many volumes as constituted the entire library passed over. The property was taken over on those conditions, and the Free Public Library and reading-room in Christchurch thus became an established fact. This placed Christchurch in the forefront in New Zealand in this respect. In the beginning of 1874 a meeting of the committee of the late Literary Institute and the Library Committee of the Canterbury College was convened for the purpose of presenting a fitting testimonial to Mr. Fife in recognition of the part he had taken in bringing this work to a successful issue. The testimonial took the form of a valuable gold watch bearing the following inscription :— “Presented to Alexander C. Fife, Honorary Secretary, Literary Institute, by the directors, 31st December, 1873.” Mr. Fife joined the Masonic fraternity while in Christchurch, where he belonged to the St Augustine Lodge, E.C. On his removal to Wellington he affiliated with Wellington Lodge No. 1521, but is now unattached. He is an original member of the Thorndon Bowling Club. In 1877 Mr. Fife was married to Miss Jessie, second daughter of Mr. John Neilson, grain merchant, Falkirk, Scotland. His family consists of two daughters and four sons.