6so 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [April 2, 1894. 
(Javin was in a minority of one in standing up 
for Sir Henry Ward and tlie Railway, under 
tiiose conditiotis, and it was then lie got dultljed 
"the last Rose of Summer" of the planting 
community. Our senior who, along with his 
colleague, Dr. Elliott, led the opposition to the 
C4ovei'nor and carried tiie day at the time, 
often told us in the "sixties" and "seventies," 
that he believed Sir Henry Ward and Mr. Gavin 
were after all right, and that the Railway woulil 
have paid the Colony even at douhle its eventual 
cost, had it only come into existence ten or even 
seven years earlier than it did, and so saved the 
frightful expenditure ofcooly and 1ml lock power, 
and the alisol lite depreciation and loss of crop ex- 
perienced during the interval. 
MARRIAGE. 
At the end of 1858, Mr. Gavin ])aid a long 
visit home remaining nearly two years only 
returning at the end of 1860. During this time 
he got married, his bride being Miss MacAndrew 
of the Knoll, Elgin. 
From the columns of the Colombo Observer of 
June 1860, we take the following notice:— 
MAERIAGE OF MR. GAVIN OF CEYLOK. 
We copy the following paragraph from the 
Banffshire Journal: — 
ABEECHiRDER. — Siuce t'le arriral of John Gavin, 
Esq., at Auchintoul House, he has, by liis numerous 
acts of generosity, endeared himeelf tj all classes of 
tke community, and Thursiay last being the day 
fixed for liis marriage in\t\\ tbe beautiful and ac- 
complished Miis M' Andrew, of the Knoll, Elgin, 
tbe inhabitants of Abercliirder, to testify tlieir re see, t 
for Mr. Gavin, re-olved ta get up a demonstration 
in honour of t\ie occasion. Vroxn. an early hour on 
Thursdiiy, numerous flags wfre di -played in the most 
coiisp CU0U3 pirts of ihe villaRe, snd a large bonfira 
was kiuiiled in ttc Square, m«t rials for whicli, 
were largely contributed by those who had fxporienced 
the benefit of Mr. Gavin's bounty on thi*, fS well 
aa many oth r occasions. The htalth of the happy 
brile and bridegroom were al-^o pledged in copious 
libations of porter and ale, which were distributed 
ainou.; the lieges. The old women, especially, 
bes'.owed iheir best blessing* on Mr. Gavin, whj so 
seasonably relieved their vfauts during the late te'-ere 
season. The day's prtceedings were wound up by a 
ball at Auchmtoul, whore a large number ol tbe youth 
ond be uty of the place ass imb ed. Kel'resli ■cents wora 
abundantly fcupplie ), and the healths ot the h ppv 
coupl) we-e p oposed and drunk with Highland 
honjurj. The dancing was kept up with great spirit 
till au early hour next morning. 
A FAMOUS LAAVSUIT. 
Mr. and Mrs. (iavin did not remain more than 
two years in Ceylon after they came out at the 
end of 1860. In December 1862, Mr, Gavin retired, 
disposing of the good-will of his firm to Messrs. 
Harrison and Leake, and Mr. and Mrs. Gavin 
finally left the island in January, 1863, taking up 
their residence at West Park, Elgin, and continu- 
ing there from 1863 to 1866. Mr. Gavin had, hew- 
ever, one visit to pay to the island in the interval 
(in. the winter of 1864-5) in connection with his 
fiae Dodangalla coffee property in the Medamaha- 
nuwara district.' This had become the bubject 
of a lawsuit, on all fours it was supposed 
with the great Rajawella case which the Lindsay 
family had won over the Oriental Bank. Tbe 
Dodangalla case was in the nanies of " Lindsay 
vs. Clerihew " ; but the defendant was really 
Mr. Gavin, for he had purchased the place as 
forest -land from Mr. Clerihew and liatl turned 
it into a coffee jdantation. He wa* told at 
the time there might be trouble, and after the 
Rajawella result, no one had the slightest faith 
in his defence of the case leading to anything 
but additional costs. Nevertheless, Mr. Gavin 
fought the battle right to the bitter end and 
eventully illustrated "the glorious uncertainties 
of the law" by winning against the plaintifl 
Lindsay in the Privy Council, thereby adding 
to his reputation for native shrewdness and 
doggedness. Dodangalla estate is still held by 
Mr. Gavin's family, though no longer cultivated. 
IS CONCLUSION. 
We have two testimonies to add from old 
residents mIio knew Mr. Gavin. Mr. Ed*»'ard 
J. Young of Rangalla who served under Messrs. 
Keir, Dundas & Co., in the time of Mr. Gavin, 
writes: — "John Gavin was a very fine specimen 
of our countrymen, sturdy, shrewd, truthful and 
strictly honest : at the same time he was a 
very retiring man and hardly ever intruded iu 
public matters, and was indeed little known 
in Ceylon except to a few personal friends.'' 
Mr. W. D. Gibbon— himself a county man of 
Mr. Gavin, writes: — "After he had joined the 
great Kandy Agency House, I knew Mr. Gavin 
well. My first recollection of him was when I 
recovered consciousness from delirium caused by 
rheumatic fever — soon after I came to the island 
in 1855, — and found him seated by my bedside- I 
exclaimed : — ' Oh Dr. Gavin, how did you come 
here.' He was so like his medical brother ! 
He often came to see me in my illness and 
talked Buch.an and its folk, of whom we 
never tired speaking. His houses at Katu- 
kelle and Han amby were ever open to me. He 
was a shre-wd man, a good judge of men and 
appreciated hard work." 
There is not much more to add. In 1866 Mr. 
and Mrs. Gavin removed from West Park to 
Wester Elchies, on Speyside, Morayshire, and 
here the subject of our notice died on the 12th 
February, 1876, at the comparatively early age of 
56^ years. Mrs. Gavin still sm-vives, having 
removed from Elchies to Earlscross, Elie, Fifeshire, 
in January 1878. Their family consisted of three 
sons and five daughters, one of the former being Mr. 
H. J. Gavin now on Mahbusa Estate, Madulkele* 
while another, Mr. Norman Gavin, is the head, 
of an Engineering firm in Johannesburg, South 
Africa. One of the daughters again was a 
distinguished student at Girton, and is now 
Principal of^the G, P. I?, School at Shrei^sbiujj 
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