THE public record of the County Clerk of Lanarkshire includes twenty-three years of gratuitous municipal service, and nearly thirty-six of county official duty. The county which he serves is the most important in Scotland, and the interests which he administers may be estimated from the fact that the county debt is over £750,000, and the annual revenue over £280,000.
    A writer in Hamilton to begin with, he first offered his services to the municipality of that town on account of his interest in matters of public health, and he took an active part in promoting the first waterworks for the burgh, and other sanitary benefits. He was Provost of Hamilton at the time of the passing of the Education Act of 1872, took an active part in putting the measure into operation, and was first Chairman of the School Board. Under the old regime of county management his eldest brother was Clerk of Supply. On his death Mr. Alston Dykes succeeded to the office, and on the remodelling of local government in 1889. and the formation of the County Council he became County Clerk. Special legislation was required for the varied and exceptional interests of Lanarkshire, and Mr. Dykes had the task and credit of arranging the new and intricate questions of administration. Apart from the position of legal adviser to the Council, in which his reputation as a sound lawyer has been homologated by the courts, he has a large and onerous private practice, yet he has found time to take an interest in charitable and philanthropic objects, and has taken a leading part in the movement to provide trained nurses for the sick poor.

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