OBITUARY.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 20076, 4 November 1930, Page 15

OBITUARY.

j REV. GEORGE BROWN. [ [THB PSEBS Special Serrlco.] AUCKLAND, November 3. The death of the Rev. Georgo Brown, ' M.A., of Onehunga, in his 100 th year, has severed the last remaining link with the earliest days of the Presbyterian Church in. Auckland, and, indeed, New Zealand. Mr Brown, who would have reached his 100 th birthday on November 11th, died this afternoon at his residence, in Onehunga. Born near Aberdeen in 1830, when William IV. was King, Mr Brown graduated Master of Arts in Aberdeen Univer-ityJ and was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Aberdeen in 1857. Mr Brown arrived in Auckland by the ship Jura on January 15tli, 1860, being then 30 years of age, and was the first Presbyterian minister to be ordained in Auckland, the ceremony being conducted in St. Andrew's Church by the Dev. Dr. Bruce and Mr J. Macky in April, 1860. Until October, 1860, Mr Brown conducted services at Onehunga, Hobson street, and Avondale, and was then given the choice of the permanent charge of Hobson street (now St» James's) or Onehunga. His Sunday programme in those days was to preach at Onehunga in the morning, Avondale in the afternoon, and Hobson street in the evening, walking the whole distance and back again to Onehunga at night. He is said to have once covered 50 miles on foot in one day. Having decided to accept the Onehunga chargej Mr Brown found that his parish extended as far as Henderson, and services were held at Waikumete, Avondale, and Titirangi. Later he was given the circuit from Devonport to Wade in addition to his Onehunga charge. Torrential rains, swollen streams, and heavy bush tracks could not daunt him, and at times he preached in clothes dripping wet, the water running from his boots along the floor. It was on one of his long journeys near Muddy Creek, on the Manukau, that he witnessed the wreck of H.M.S. Orpheus on the Manukau bar, February. 1863. The first Presbyterian church at Onehunga was built in 1862, and during the Maori war the congregation was greatly increased by an influx of settlers driven from their farms, and also by the military stationed at Onehunga. For some time the church enjoyed prosperity", but at the close of the war the province suffered a great depression, which fell with special weight on Onehunga. Then came the exodus to the Thames goldfields, and the congregation was reduced to one-third of its former membership. Unwilling to abandon it, Mr Brown nobly resolved tp abide by his flock, and supplemented his diminished income by accepting appointment as one of the masters of the Auckland Grammar School. Failirig health compelled him to resign his charge in 1870, but owing to the difficulty of securing supply, he resumed his incumbency, and he carried on until 1881, when he retired from tho ministry. Mr is survived by two sons— Messrs David and John Brown—and one daughter—Miss Hannah Brown.

MR SAMUEL BAMBERY,

Mr Samuel Bambery, whose death occurred last; week as the result of an accident, was a well-known and highlyrespected resident of Palmerston North. Barn in Canterbury;-Mr Bambery went to Palmerston North thirty years ago, nnd had spent practically the entire time in various carrying and contracting businesses in the town. Keenly interested in trotting, Mr Bambery was for .over 15 years a member of the Manawatu Trotting Club committee. He raced many horses, one of the best-known being Azelzion, and at the time of his death ho had one horae, Whippet, in work. As a teamster in the employ of Messrs Gammon and Co., erstwhile timber merchants of Palmerston North, he won many prizes at Manawatu A. and P. shows. Mr Bambery, who was 56 years of age, leaves a family of three sons—Messrs Archi bald, William, and Colin —and one daughter, Miss Jean Bambery, all of Palmerston North. His wife predeceased him about twt> and a half years ago. j Messrs James and Jack Bambery, of Palmerston North, and Messrs Robert and Colin Bambery, of Christchurch, are j brothers of the late Mr Bambery, and ! Miss Barbara Bambery (Chri.stehunJi), i Mra J. Green (Southland), and Mrs ! Craig (Otago) are sisters.

MR A. S. BOYD: BLACK AND WHITE ARTIST. A correspondent writes as follows to the "Morning Post": I have just heard that my old friend, Mr Alexander Stuart Boyd, the once well-known artist, has died in Auckland, New Zealand, and I hope you will allow me to Bay a few words about him and his art. Both were considerable influences in their heyday. Boyd was a Glasgow man and began life in a bank. Art, however, was. to dominate his life, and before long he made a name for himself in the Scottish city by 1 uncommonly clever drawings in "Quiz" and "The Bailie"— ; Scotland's "Punch" in those far-back days. The high quality of his work became known in London, and after the "Daily Graphic" had been established in the lato 'nineties he was invited early in its existence to join the staff in London. Ho settled at The Hut, 17 Boundary road, St. John's Wood, and his house became the meeting-place of most of the young men and women who were beginning to make their way in art and literature. He and his charming and clover wife, Mary Stuart Boyd, were delightful hosts, and many people now famous owe much to their encouragement and practical help. He told me of his introduction to the "Idler" Magazine, which was founded by Jerome K. Jerome and Robert Barr, the novelist: "I met Barr at the office, for when the 'ldler' was to be started it seems that both Bret Harto and Barrie had mentioned me as a new man in London, who might be glad of a job, and, in answer to a note from G. B, i Burgin, then Sub-Editor, I went to see the Power of the 'ldlor' office. Barr j and I, being both Glasgow fowl, took : to each other at once, and we were good friends till his death." i Boyd's career in London was highly i successful until the advent of photo-! graphy began to oust first-class illustration, and Boyd, like many other brilliant artists, soon found that his occupation was going. That fact and the loss of his only son (a highly promising young painter) in the Great War mad® h;m decide to join Mrs Boyd's relatives in New Zealand. There he lived happily, as he told me in a recent letter. "I have not been entirely out of 'Art.' " he wrote, "since we came here ten years ago. There is a Society of Arts, with an annual exhibition, which is past its jubilee. I was President of the Society for two years, but am now retired and have done nest to nothing in the way of drawing or painting for the last year or two." In his prime'Boyd was a regular contributor to "Punch," and illustrated bocks by E. L. Stevenson, lan Maclaren, Neil Munro. Charles Murray, J. _J. Bell, and Mrs Boyd's entertaining works.

The claim that he is the only man in the world in his particular line of "business is made by Herr Hugo Brech, of Newport, Montgomeryshire. He supplies English doctors with Russian skulls. "There is a steady demand for Russian skulls in good condition, 1 ' Herr Brech

said lately. "Bmmm of th« k*ti? on which Bussian peasants live, Utair teeth are in toy good condition, aad the skulls are therefore inv&hu&fe for dental demonstration. My first collect the skulls in Russia, u<t it is s> y job to sell them to doctors. A BOOti skull brings about £18,"