Morgan Stanislaus Grace

Morgan Stanislaus "Stan" Grace (28 February 1837 – 19 April 1903) was a surgeon in Wellington, member of the Legislative Council of New Zealand, and a staunch Roman Catholic. Early life He was born on 28 February 1837 in Clonmel, County Tipperary, Ireland, to Ellen Mary Russell and her husband, James Grace, a landowner. Grace grew up on a farm belonging to his father. His maternal family were Scottish Calvinists, but he was brought up and educated a Catholic. His formal education began at the Jesuit-run Stonyhurst College, England. He apparently started his university studies in Dublin and spent some time on the Continent; this may have included a period in Paris. In 1858 he received a diploma in medicine at the University of Jena, Germany, and in 1859 he took his licentiate at the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. Military career He enlisted in the British Army on 20 April 1859 as staff assistant and surgeon. He arrived in Auckland with a detachment of troops on the Nugget on 21 June 1860, three months after the start of the Waitara war in the Taranaki Region. He served as a medical officer in the First Taranaki War, the Invasion of Waikato and in subsequent campaigns. He left the Imperial Army, joining the Colonial Forces, and became their Surgeon-General.