OBITUARY

Press, Volume LXXXI, Issue 24511, 9 March 1945, Page 6

OBITUARY

MR J. S. NEVILLE, 0.8. E.

Mr John SamUel Neville, 0.8. E., who died yesterday at the age of 70, was Town Clerk of Christchurch Irom 1924 until his retirement in 1940. He joined the staff of the City Council in 1901. , Mr Neville’s grand parents were among the passengers on the Cressy. one of the First Four Ships to bring colonists to Canterbury, and his mother was born in 1851 at Lyttelton, which was r.lso his birthplace. His lather was Mr Nathan Neville. After his education at the Lyttelton District High School, Mr Neville joined the Railway Department, in which he served 12 years. He entered the service of the City Council as rate collector. A little more than two years later he was appointed to the position of assistrnt-Town Clerk, Mr H. R. Smith being apointed Town Clerk at

that time. Mr Smith was Town Clerk tor 22J years, and on his retirement Mr Neville was appointed to the position. Mr Neville at various times acted as honorary treasurer of the city entertainment fund, the Canterbury Patriotic Fund, and the Mayor’s Coal and Blanket Fund. He was one of the city’s Sinking Fund Commissioners at the time of his death.

In 1935 the council granted Mr Neville nine months’ leave of absence on full pay in recognition of his long service. He. made an extensive tour of Europe and the United States. In 1938 his name was included in the New Year Honours. . After his retirement, Mr Neville took an active part in the affairs of the Canterbury branch of the Navy League and of the Canterbury Progress League. When milk zoning was introduced he gave his assistance to the committee in a clerical capacity. He was a Justice of the Peace.

Mr, Neville married twice. His first wife, who died some ye?rs ago, was before her marriage Miss Frances Andrews, daughter of Mr George Andrews. a former City Councillor. In 1937 ■he married Miss Grace Hill, daughter of Mr C. R. Hill. There were no children of either marriage.

FLIGHT LIEUTENANT B. G. COLLYNS, D.F.C.

Flight Lieutenant Basil G. Collyns, D.F.C., R.N.Z.A.F., whose death at the age of 31 has now been presumed, is well known in Marlborough and Can-: terbury. He was a brother of Mrs lan Treleaven, Monck’s Bay, and a nephew of Mrs J. W. Trolove, “The Shades,” Kekerangu. The son of Major Guv Collyns, M.C., R.E., Amesburg, Wiltshire. he was educated at Nelson College and later at Canterbury Agricultural College, Lincoln. Afterwards he studied practical farming at “The Shades.” Shortly before he left New Zealand in 1940 he married Miss Margaret Churchward, daughter of Mr and Mrs W. T. Churchward. Blenheim. He was a member of the 2nd Tactical Air Force, and was continuously on operations from before D Day to August 20, when he was shot down north-east of Paris, at that time in German hands, by a German formation outnumbering that with which he was flying. In that action he had shot down an enemy aircraft. making his total against the Luftwaffe eight and a half.