OBITUARY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 40, 17 February 1931, Page 3

OBITUARY.

MR. JOHN BAIN. One of the oldest surviving miners, of I Collingwood goldfield, Mr. John Bain,' died on February 13 at the residence of his daughter, Mrs. Andrew Penny, Awateri, Whakatane, at the age of 95 years. Mr. Bain pegged out his first .claim on the shores of Golden Bay, Nelson, in 1857, and he was believed to be the last survivor of the prospectors, who rushed to Collingwood in the 'fifties. Mr. Bain was born in Stirlingshire, Scotland, several years before Auckland was founded. Leaving Scotland in 1855, while the Crimean War was raging, he landed at Nelson and worked on a farm for a while. When the news of gold finds spread through the little Nelson, settlement, Mr. Bain, then 21, left his job and went to the diggings. He pegged out his claim next to that of Mr. William Lightband, who found the first gold. In the 'sixties Mr. Bain went to the West Coast diggings, but later returned to Collingwood—which takes its name from Admiral Collingwood, who fought at Trafalgar—and took up land. He felled the dense bush and brought in the land in the days before farming was a profitable business. He was instrumental in getting a cheese factory started, and this put the settlers on their feet. For many years Mr. Bain lived on the banks of . the Aorere River, and when a post office was opened near by it was called Bainham, after him. In 1919 Mr. Bain went to live with his youngest daughter. He is survived by one son and four daughters.