OBITUARY.

Press, Volume LXIX, Issue 20918, 27 July 1933, Page 10

OBITUARY.

THE REV- S. LA WRY, The Rev. Samuel Lawry, one of the most prominent figures in the history of the Methodist Church in New Zealand, died yesterday afternoon at the home of his son, Mr Melville Lawry, Mount Pleasant. Fifty years of Mr Lawry's life were spent in the active work of the ministry, and during that time he filled every office a Methodist minister could hold. Mr Lawry was born at Bodmin, Cornwall, in 1854, and came with his parents in 1862 to settle in Canterbury. He was a boy only 10 years of age when he joined the church. As he grew to manhood he took his share in a local preacher's duty when to do so meant travelling long distances, the whole of Canterbury being then covered by two circuits. In 1876, after spending two years in training under the Rev. J. B. Richardson, he was accepted as a candidate for the ministry and sent as one of the first company of students to the college at Three Kings, Auckland. From the college he was the first student to be called into circuit work. His appointments were Rangitikei, Mornington, Hokitika, Franklin, Upper Thames, Hamilton, Ashburton, Grafton road (Auckland), Manukau, Palmerston North: Sydenham, and Papanui. Altogether, he spent 34 years in circuit work. At one period for seven yean he rode over 4000 miles a year or horseback. From the beginning of his ministry Mr Lawry gave evidence of his great capacity, and was early ap- | pointed one of the board of examiners for candidates and probationers. He occupied a seat on that board longer than any other mem- j ' ber. On seven occasions he was j [called to serve as secretary to the ' Methodist Conference, and in the i years 1904 and 1913 he filled the I presidential chair. His later term las president was n recognition of ithe part he had played in the dc- ■ velopments that had taken place in : the second half century of New 'Zealand Methodism. In connexional I committees he showed himself a ! wise counsellor, while in the church ! courts his intimate knowledge of j church law and procedure Have him 1 a place of power. His skill in de--1 bate made him a notable figure in I the assemblies of the church. Beyond this, he was a stalwart in the fight for national righteousness. He was gifted with a clear, penetrating voice, and could therefore be heard with the utmost ease. He was a devoted Methodist preacher and rejoiced in the fact that his family had an unbroken and vital connexion with the Methodist Church from the dnvs of John WesIn 1911 Mr Lawrv was appointed connexional secretary of the Methodist Church of New Zealand, and he held this position for 16 years. {Methodist union, which was ' achieved in New Zealand in 1913

largely through his efforts, greatly i increased the volume and variety ( ; of his office work. With separation | from Australia came the institu- ■ tion of the New Zealand Super- , numerary Fund. Later, retiring , funds for home missionaries and , deaconesses were established, and still later the business management of the "Methodist Times" was placed in his charge. When he was succeeded in this office in 1027 by the Rev. M. A. Rugby Pratt every branch of the office work had grown in size and importance. But it was ' not by his success in executive posi- , tions, in business routine, or in details of office organisation that Mr Lawry was most distinguished. It was rather in his supreme love for the task of the preacher of the Gospel and for doing the work of an evangelist. Mr Lawry spent 50 years ui the active work of the ministry, and was superannuated in 1927. At the time of his death he was chairman of the Methodist Fire Insurance Board, and a member of most of the other beards and important committees of his church. In 1881 Mr Lawry married Miss Janet McHardie, whose parents were among the pioneer settlers at Hutt, Wellington. Mrs Lawry died in 1920. Mr Lawry was living at the time of his death with his son, Mr W. Melville Lawry, at Mount Pleasant. He leaves three sons and two daughters. His sons are Mr H. P. Lawry, S.M., of Christchurch, Mr W. Melville Lawry, who is a wellknown architect in the city, and Major Raymond Lawry, who served with distinction in the Great War, and now resides in Kenya Colony, Africa. The two daughters are Mrs L. J. Berry, of Wellington, and Mrs A. F. McAvthur, of Staveley, Mid-Canterbury.

j MR w. L. MINSON. ! J Advice has been received of the death in London, following an operation, of Mr Wilfrid Langford Minson, of 25 Winchester street, Merivale. Mr Minson left with his wife a few months ago for England on a combined holiday and health trip, and they have spent the last two months in London with their eldest son, who has resided there for the last four years. Mr Minson, who was the younger son of the late Mr William Minson, was born in 1875 at St. Ives, Huntingdonshire, and was educated at the Bishop's Stortford Grammar School. After leaving school he spent six years in the United States, coming to New Zealand in 1897 to join his father and brother in the firm of Minsons, Ltd., of which he was a director until his retirement in 1929, owing to ill-health. Mr Minson was keenly interested in several branches of sport, particularly fishing, tennis, cricket, and football. A keen motorist, fond of camping and the outdoors, he was prominent in the administrative side of the Pioneer Sports Club and the South Island (N.Z.) Motor Union. He was a vice-president, committeeman, and official of the Pioneer Sports Club, was a member of the committee from its inception 11 years ago of the union, and for some time chairman. For a time, too. he was a member of the directorate of the South Island Motor Union Mutual Insurance Association. In the war period he played a big part in organising motor gymkhanas for the benefit of the Red Cross. He leaves a widow (the youngest daughter of the late Mr William Dunlop, of Hillcrest, Marshland), five daughters and three sons. The sons are Messrs Wilfrid Minson, civil engineer, London; Jim Minson, of Lincoln College, and Master Ray Minson, a pupil at St. Andrew's College. The daughters are Mesdames G. H. Wood, Harman Warren- and P. H. Webb, all of Christchurch, and Mrs George Turrell, of Kaituna, and Mrs (Gavin Turnbull, of Tai Tap".

MR S. S. MASON. | The death occurred at the weekend at his residence at Tc Rengarenga, Tauranga, of Mr Samuel Smart Mason, son of the late Mr "Quaker'' Mason, of Lower Hutt.. Mr Mason was born at Lower Hutt, and was well known throughout the Wellington district. He moved to j Manakau in 1904, and returned to the Hutt in 1912. A keen sports-j man, he took an active part in golf, bowls, cricket, etc., and was captain of the Waiwetu Cricket Club when it won the Wellington championship in 1901. In 1929 Mr Mason sold the estate "Waiwero" at Lower Hutt, now known as the Fairfield Estate, and went to Tauranga, where he had resided since. Mr Mason leaves a widow, five sons, 12 daughters, 58 grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. MR H. T. WHITING. Mr Henry Thomas Whiting, of Dorie, an old resident of the Ashburton county, died at Ashburton, in his sixty-seventh year.

Mr Whiting was born on June 11, 1867 at Halswell, and was educated at the Christchurch West School. He afterwards obtained a position in the office of the "Lyttelton Times" and later served his apprenticeship as a bootmaker in O'Brien's Boot Factory, Christchurch. 111-health forced Mr Whiting to go into the country and he worked at Longbeach and Newlands. In 1895 he was married to a daughter of Mr William Allen, of Newlands. He then went farming at Winslow, and later at Huntingdon and Ruapuna, and finally settled in the Dorie district in 1915. where he remained until his death. He was vice-president of the rifle club and a member of the school committee for many years, as well as a trustee of the Rakaia Methodist Church Board. He is survived by his widow, two sons, and two daughters. The sons are Mr Allan Whiting, of Windermere and Mr Ernest Whiting, of Dorie, and the daughters, Mrs Robertson, of New Brighton, and Miss O. M. Whiting, of Dorie. The eldest son was killed in the Great was a large attendance at the funeral. Wreaths were sent by Messrs Pyne, Gould, Guinness, Ltd., the Dorie School Committee, and former committee men, as well as many from members and friends of the family. MR (J. LAMBERT. P.TESS ASSOCIATION ■l'E.LLiOii&.'i.. WELLINGTON, July 20. The death has occurred of Mr G. Lambert, a well-known Wellington citizen, and one time coroner for the Wellington district, aged 79.