A DISTINGUISHED SOLDIER

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21175, 28 May 1934, Page 12

A DISTINGUISHED SOLDIER

COLONEL STUDHOLME'S DEATH OWNER OF THE WELL-KNOWN COLDSTREAM ESTATE The death of Lieutenant-Colonel John Studholme, C.8.E., D.5.0., which occurred at "Middleton Grange," Upper Riccarton, on Saturday, has removed another of the city's most distinguished men. Colonel Studholme was a successful farmer, and a keen educationist, and he had a long and noted military career. He had a long and interesting association with the old Coldstream estate at Hinds, was connected with many farming and public bodies and was a keen churchman. Colonel Studholme was aged 71. He was born at "The Terrace" (later Sir John Hall's residence), at Hororata, in 1863, and was the eldest son of Mr John Studholme. who arrived in 1801. He was educated at Farnborough College, England, and later attended Christ's College. He graduated B.A. at Christ Church, Oxford, in 1887, and took his M.A. in 1891, When he returned to New Zealand in 1888. Colonel Studholme farmed for his father at the famous Coldstream Estate, Hinds, and stayed there until 1891. The property passed into the hands of Mr John Studholme, sen. in 18G7. Colonel Studholme farmed his father's North Island property from 1801 to 1895. In that year he returned to England, partly for travel and partly

I COLONEL JOHN STUDHOLME to engage in social welfare work in the East End of London at Oxford House. When he came back to New Zealand, his father made over Coldstream to him, and he farmed there until his retirement in 1926. Although portions of the property have been sold. Coldstream has remained one of the most noted of the South Canterbury estates. Under Colonel Studholme's management some of the best flocks of stud Lincoln and English Leicester sheep in New Zealand were gathered together. The estate is one of the few early Canterbury runs remaining in the yjossession of the original family. Service on Local Bodies For many years he was a member of the Ashburton County Council and other local bodies in the district, and represented the county at the conference on the Local Government Bill in 1912. He was president of the Ashburton Agricultural and Pastoral Association and the Ashburton Racing Club, representing the association at many New Zealand conferences. A member of the executive of the North Canterbury branch of the Farmers' Union, Colonel Studholme was its president in 1901. In 1905 and 1908 he travelled extensively in Canada and the United States, studying agriculture, and. from the knowledge gained on these trips was able to give valuable information to other farmers ill the Dominion. After his investigations into home science education in the United States, Colonel Studholme was convinced that the subject should be taught in New Zealand, and he initiated the Home Science Chair at the University of Otago, a branch of its work which has since spread throughout the Dominion. Five years ago he visited New York at the invitation of the Carnegie Corporation and after his visit, a considerable sum was voted as a five-yearly grant for expenditure in New Zealand on libraries, education, and home science teaching. Since that date he had been a member of the advisory committee administering the fund in New Zealand, and also its honorary treasurer. The grant has now been renewed. Member of Synod At the time of his death Colonel Studholme was a member of the Canterbury Agricultural College Board of Governors- and the Christ's College Board, having served on these bodies for many years. He was for many years a member of the Christchurch Diocesan Synod and the Standing Committee, and represented Christchurch at the Pan-Anglican Congress at London in 1909. Colonel Studholme was an unsuccessful candidate for the Ashburton seat against the Seddon Government candidate in 1902 and 1905. For the last four years he was a director of the New Zealand Shipping Company. He was a former member of the Ashburton County Council, and of the Board of Managers of the Ashburton Technical School and chairman of the Coldstream Road Board. Career as a Soldier In 1809 Colonel Studholme joined the Canterbury Yeomanry Cavalry as a trooper. In 1900 he became a lieutenant in the Ashburton Mounted Killes. and in 1907 had risen to the position of officer-commanding. He became major and second in command of the South Canterbury Mounted Rifles Regiment in that year. He served with the New Zealand Expeditionary Forces in the Great War from March, 1915, to January, 1920, being in Egypt, Gallipoli, France, and Germany. He was temporarily in command of the Canterbury Mounted Rifles at Gallipoli, became Assistant Military Secretary between 1916 and 1917, and was Assistant Adjutant General between 1917 and 1919. For distinguished services he was awarded the D.S.O. in 1916, and the C.B.E. m 1919. He retired in 1922 with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. Work for the Church Keenly interested in church adairs, Colonel Studholme was an ardent advocate of the Bible-in-schools movement, and published, in 1930, Religious Instruction in the State Frimdry Schools of Great Britain. Since coming to live at Upper Riccarton in 1924, Colonel Studholme was a member oi the congregation of St. Peter s Church, representing it as a lay ot bynod. He became interested in the work of the Summit Road Trust and made many contributions to fid its roading work on the Port Hills. He served as a member of the trust for S °Among r his other publications are: Some Records of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force (a work of reference, in that it contains a complete war record of all officers, nurses, and warrant officers who served with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force): and The Work of the Church Among the White Settlers of New Zealand (1908). . , , Colonel Studholme first married, m 1897, the eldest daughter of Dr. Thompson, a former Archbishop of York, and some time after her death, niarried Miss Katherine Bowen, a daughter of Sir Charles Bowen, who survives him. He leaves three sons—Mr Derek Studholme, of Coldstream, Canterbury, and Messrs R. H, and J. JVI.