' In 1871 Mr. Griffin, then a young literary man, was appointed Consul at Copenhagen, where he remained until 1876. ... In 1870 he was promoted to the Consulate at Samoa, and began negotiating a treaty of friendship and commerce between the people of those islands and the United States. ... For his services in Samoa Mr. Griffin was promoted to the Consulate at Auckland, New Zealand ... He was next promoted to Sydney in 1884. ... Mr. Griffin, before entering the consular service, had a brilliant literary career opening out before him, but the consular glamour drew him away from that which would have given him fame and fortune ... About seven months ago [1891] Mr. Griffin was granted a leave of absence, and returned to the United States. Before leaving Sydney a public banquet was tendered to him, in which all the great personages of New South Wales, from the Governor down, participated.'
Extract from: Obituary Notice in The South Australian Register, 13 January 1892, (7)
