John Douglas Ritchie
I recently discovered this article about the daughter of James McKerrow, who married John Douglas Ritchie. I found it in The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Wellington Provincial District] Department Of Agriculture
Mr. John Douglas Ritchie, Secretary for Agriculture and Chief Inspector of Stock, was born in Perthshire, Scotland. Educated partly at Perth and partly at Cargill, Mr. Ritchie entered and was for some time in the employ of his uncle's firm, Messrs. Douglas Watt and Co., of Dundee, who were in the Baltic and Calcutta trade. In 1877 he decided to seek his fortune in New Zealand, and embarked for the Colony per ship “Halcione.” In the rearing and management of stock and farming generally, Mr. Ritchie has had an extended experience, having been brought up on a farm in the Old Country, and for fourteen years he held the position of manager of the Mount Royal Station at Palmerston South, the property of his uncle, Mr. John Douglas. Mr. Ritchie joined the Government Service in 1891 as Chief Inspector of Stock, and a year later he was appointed Secretary for Agriculture. The departments which he supervises are most important, and it is satisfactory that the Government has appointed qualified experts to foster and encourage the staple industry of the Colony. In 1892 ha married Miss McKerrow, daughter of Mr. James McKerrow, late Chief Commissioner of Railways.
