The late Mr. C. A. Ewen was born at Birmingham, England, in 1852—a son of Walter Ewen, who came to New Zealand in 1854, and settled in Auckland. He was educated in the Auckland High School, where he won the medal for special ability.

After a visit to England in 1874 he returned to New Zealand, and in 1876 joined the staff of the Bank of New Zealand, becoming in due course manager of several branches—Waipawa, New Plymouth, &c. About 1895 he joined the New Zealand Insurance Company as manager of their Wellington branch, and in 1907 was offered and accepted the general managership of the Commercial Union Assurance Company, which position he held up to the date of his death.

He was keenly interested in sport, having himself in his early days been a representative footballer of the Auckland Province; he was a pronounced Imperialist, was a Fellow of the Royal Colonial Institute, a Financial Member of the Executive of the Dominion War Relief Association, for several years a Vice-President of the Wellington Club, and President of the New Zealand Council of Underwriters. He was also a trustee of the Wellington Diocese, a member of the Wellington Chamber of Commerce, and Government representative on the Board of Science and Art. He was appointed Government representative on the New Zealand Institute in 1910, was made Honorary Treasurer in 1912, and held both positions at the date of his death.

He was keenly interested in science and art, and his collection of books dealing particularly with New Zealand and Australia, made during his friendship with the late A. H. Turnbull, was very extensive, as, too, was his collection of Maori weapons and implements.

He lived the quiet private life of a busy business man and assiduous collector, and, whilst he had only one paper in the Transactions of the Institute, he materially assisted the Institute in his position of Honorary Treasurer.

He married, in 1883, Jane Douglas, daughter of the late Frederick Sutton, of Hawke's Bay, M.P. for that district for a number of years, and died at his home on 9th April, 1921, leaving a widow and two daughters.

Johannes C. Andersen.