Kirwee, a farming district of considerable fertility, is situated twenty-five miles west from Christchurch, in the county of Selwyn. It was named by Colonel Brett—for many years one of its most useful residents—after a village in India, with which he had, as a military officer, been familiar. Kirwee was originally a part of the Racecourse Hill and Desert runs. Its earliest settlers were Messrs W. B. and John Tosswill and T. H. Anson. The railway from Rolleston passes through the centre of the district, and a township has sprung up about the station. In addition to a hotel and several trade establishments, the village now has a public school, a hall, and several churches. During the early days farming in the district was rendered uncertain by the want of a regular water supply. This difficulty, however, was removed by the resourcefulness of Colonel Brett, whose efforts led to the inauguration of the water-race system, by means of which an ample supply of good water is drawn from the neighbouring rivers, and distributed over the district. Sheepfarming and grain-growing flourish, and the rearing of cattle is also carried on, though to a lesser degree. Public sales are conducted monthly in the district, and an annual show is held, under the auspices of the Courtenay Agricultural and Pastoral Association. Kirwee's postal service provides for two mails a day with Christchurch, and there is a telegraph office at the railway station.

The Public School at Kirwee was opened in December, 1881, with Mr. Peter Murray as its headmaster. It is a wooden building, with a concrete foundation, and has room for seventy-five pupils. The walls are hung with maps and pictures, with framed portraits of Queen Victoria, presented by the children, and the portraits of other English celebrities. Mr. Watson, the headmaster, wishes to obtain also enlarged pictures of prominent men, with a view to perpetuating the memory of those who have done good work for the country. The school is surmounted by a flag-staff, with the Union Jack, one of the first to be used in the North Canterbury education district, and presented by the school children. A glebe of two acres is surrounded by a belt of pine trees, and divided into two portions. The playground occupies about an acre and a half and contains a large concrete swimming bath; the remaining half acre is taken up with the residence of the headmaster and a well kept flower garden. There are about forty names on the school roll; but the attendance has been gradually falling, and there is now only one teacher.

Mr. Lancelot Watson, Master of the Kirwee public school, is the youngest son of the late Mr. William Watson, of Brookside, who was widely known as a successful breeder of prize Shorthorn cattle. He was born in 1865, educated at the Brookside public school, and, becoming a pupil-teacher, was subsequently trained at the Christchurch Normal School. He was afterwards successively headmaster of the Rotherham and Woodside public schools, and, in 1899, he received his page 736 present appointment. Mr. Watson takes an active interest in almost every phase of life in the district. He is a sergeant-major of the Waimakarini Mounted Rifles, a member of the executive committee of the Courtenay Agricultural and Pastoral Association, secretary of the West Courtenay Prohibition Loague, and president of the Kirwee Band of Hope. He also interests himself in the Burnham Industrial School, which he frequently visits, and has several times organised a concent for the entertainment of the inmates. Matters affecting his profession also receive his close attention. He is vice-president of the North Canterbury District Educational Institute, and holds a similar position in the Christchurch section of that body; and he was a delagate to the Council of Teachers, held at Napier. In 1889 Mr. Watson married Miss Ruth Longstaff, daughter of a Leeston farmer. His wife died in 1899, leaving one son and one daughter.

Kirwee Hotel (C. W. Bourne, proprietor), Kirwee. This popular hotel is situated within a stone's throw of the Kirwee railway station. It contains fifteen well furnished bedrooms, one large well ventilated dining room, capable of seating sixty persons, and two sitting rooms or parlours. There is good stabling, and there are several secure and well-watered paddocks for the accommodation of travelling stock. The hotel is patronised by the neighbouring settlers, and by visiting auctioneers, salesmen, drovers, commercial travellers, and anglers, who find good sport in the Waimakariri, Hawkins, and Selwyn rivers.

Mr. C. W. Bourne was born at Riccarton in 1855, and is the son of a pioneer who arrived at Lyttelton on the 16th of December, 1850, in one of the first four ships. He followed farming first at Rangiora and Southbridge, and subsequently at Makikihi, near Timaru, for nine years In 1883 he went to New South Wales, where he entered into business and kept a number of stud horses. He returned to New Zealand in 1889, and took up his headquarters at Timaru, where he raced “Milo,” “Frailty,” “Dispatch,” “Moonee”—the champion trotter of his day—“Lotier,” “Seabrook,” and others too numerous to mention. Mr. Bourne went to America with the horse “Artillery,” in 1896, and remained there for one year. He was married, in 1827, to Miss Warnoll, and has one son and one daughter.

Belgrave, John Walter, Black-smith and Music Teacher, Kirwee. Mr. Belgrave was born in 1861, in Lyttelton, where his father, the late Mr. Robert Belgrave, was for many years a hotelkeeper. He was educated at private and public schools in Lyttelton, and afterwards apprenticed to the blacksmithing trade in Christchurch, where he continued to work for about ten years. In 1884 he established a blacksmith's business, which he still conducts at Kirwee, and has since resided within a few yards of the railway station in that district. Early in life Mr. Belgrave gave evidence of considerable musical talent, and was accordingly placed under capable tutors. Whilst working at his trade in Christcurch he took lessons from Mr. Corrick, and was for two years a member of the band organised and conducted by that gentleman. Mr. Belgrave plays a number of instruments, of some of which he has acquired his knowledge without instruction. He has considerable number of pupils, and was for seven years choirmaster at the local Baptist church. Mr. Belgrave is a member of the Kirwee school committee and of the Courtenay Agricultural and Pastoral Association, and the Orange Lodge; of the latter he is a Past Master. In 1884 Mr. Belgrave married Miss Elizabeth Clarke, of Upper Riccarton, and has two sons and eight daughters.