PIONEERS DEATH

Press, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22237, 30 October 1937, Page 7

PIONEERS DEATH

MR W. A. THOMPSON, OFJ HOKITIKA ARRIVAL IX 1863 j i

The death has occurred at the West- , Jand Hospital of Mr William Arnold ; Thompson, of Weld street. He was : born at Salisbury. Wiltshire. England • and was 96 years cf age. , He came to New Zealand m 1862. and landed at Lyttelton from the ship Mermaid. He remained in Canterbury ; until 1865. when he came to Hokltika. j where he has lived for more than 73 vears He began business as a liverystable keeper and afterwards established a coal and carrying business which he continued until his retirement . , , . , , He took a keen interest in local affairs, being for 14 years a member of the Hokitika Borough Council, for 10 years a member of the Westland Hospital Board, and for 12 years a j member of the Hokitika School Com-! mittee. He was a justice of the peace j and was a member of the Westland Racing Club from its inception, for a number of years acting as the clubs stsrtcr He was a widower, and of his family \ of four, only one daughter (Miss FlorIcnce Thompson) survives him. j

MR C. E. SIMPSON The death has occurred of Mr Charles Edward Simpson, formerly secretary of the Hrunner sub-branch of the Returned Soldiers’ Association. He served as a corporal with the IVlain Body during the war, gaining the Military Medal. For the last four rears he Was engaged in milling work at Kotuku on the West Coast. Sonic 300 residents of the district assembled in the cortege to the railway station before the journey to Christchurch, where the funeral was held at the Bromley Cemetery. PLAYS PRESENTED AT HOKITIKA There was a fair attendance at the Princess Theatre when members of the Hokitika Play-reading Circle presented three short comedies. The proceeds were for the Hokitika Volunteer Fire Brigade. , „ „... The casts were as follows; — Miss Marlow in Play”: Mrs E. A. Carr (Miss Marlow), Mr A. Muirhead (Mr A. Wellington), Mrs B. L. Wilson (Ethel), Mr R. B. Bulpin (Mr Joe Warton). "The Grand Cham’s Diamond”: Mrs J. McIntyre (Mrs Perkins), Miss A. P. Duff (Miss Molly Perkins), Mr W. E. Brown (Mr Perkins), Mr C. G. Warren (dark stranger), Mr L. Wilson (Albert).“Sad About Europe”: Miss A. P. Duff (Mrs Marshall Hunt), Dr. T. Childs (Marshall Hunt), Mrs W. S. Brown (Miss Mulberry), Mrs C. G. Warren (Phoebe). Mr Bulpin (Jim). At the conclusion, Mr J. J. Mclntosh, Superintendent of the Fire Brigade, thanked the company for their excellent presentation, and the audience lor their attendance.