OBITUARY

Dominion, Volume 32, Issue 81, 29 December 1938, Page 10

OBITUARY

First Civil Administrator Of Samoa COLONEL R. w. TATE The deiith occurred in the Grey town Hospital on Wednesday morning ot Colonel Robert Ward Tate, L.M.U, C.8.E., F.R.E.S., Greylown, says a Dominion” Special Service message. ‘ was. a son of the late Mr. L. H. lat<> ot the Union Bank of Australia, Wellington, and was born in 1864. lie ' educated alt Timaru nigh > studied law and was admitted to he bar in Christchurch m 188 b. In tjic same year he went to Greytown and began practice. , Wnl „, keenly interested in military alt.uis, Mr. Tate began his military career aa gunner in the Tlimrru Battel y. Ln 19.il he was appointed colonel of the Wellington Infantry Brigade, and in 1914 officer commanding the Wellington district. Hi-1916 he became AdjutantGeneral and in 1919 was appointed Acting-Military Administrator in Bamoa. In 1920 Mr. Tate became the first Civil Administrator in Samoa, a position he held for four years before resigning in 1923 and returning to Ne« Zealand. Later he was appointed a stipendiary magistrate, located at M hangarei and New Plymouth. Retiring i 1933. Mr. Tate resumed his former partnership with Mr. J. F. Thompson in Greytown. He became a member of the Masonic Lodge in 1890 and was master oi the Greytown Lodge in 1894 and 1901. was made a Past-Grand Registrar u 1936. He was president of tne Greytown Horticultural Society and the Greytown Beautifying Society and a synodsman and people’s warden ot St. Luke’s Church. . Mr. Tate was married twice ana survived by a widow aud a grown-up family—Mrs. K. Fullerton-Smith (Taihape), Miss Dorothy Tate (Greytown), Messrs. A. R. W. Tate (Sydney) and J. W. Tate (Greytown). Mr. W. J. Liversedge Deep regret was felt among Auckland bowlers on Monday when it was learned that Mr. W. J. Liversedge had collapsed' while playing in a tournament, and had died a few minutes later, states a Dominion Special Service message from Auckland. The flags at the various pavilions where the tournament was in progress were immediately lowered to half mast. Mr. Leversedge was a toyver of strength to Whittle’s rink when they won the Dominion tournament the last time it was held in AuckLand, and they were all looking forward to another enjoyable tournament a fortnight hence. Though he has never won the Grey Lynn championship, he has been recognized for many years as one of the strongest rink players in the city and the club suffers a great loss in his death, particularly, on the eve of the largest tournament ever to have been held in New Zealand. His judgment in play was exceptionally sound, and he had the pronounced faculty of imparting confidence to the other members of the team. Mr. G. W. McGill Cable news has been received of the sudden death in Sydney on the evening of Boxing Day of Mr. George William McGill, of Ellice Avenue, Wellington. Mr. McGill, who was 96 years of age, was the son of the late Mr. William McGill, monumental mason, Wellington, who erected and was the owner of the McGill Buildings, in Willis Street (between Boulcott Street and the Majestic Theatre). Mr. George McGill learned the trade in his father’s yard, but retired from the business more than 20 years ago. Of recent years he had been a sufferer from asthma, and left for Sydney on a health trip two mouths ago. The change seemed to have benefited him and the news of his death from heart failure eame as a shock to the members of his family in Wellington.

Mr. McGill leaves a family of Cour — two sons', Messrs. Emil and William . -cGill. and two daughters, Mesdames W. N. Walker and K. Lockett, of Lower Hutt. His wife predeceased him five years ago. Messrs. Arthur and James McGill, Wellington, and Mr. Thomas McGill, Auckland, are brothers, and Miss Eliza McGill. Wellington, is u sister. Mr. McGill was a well-known member of the Victoria Bowling Club and the Federal Club.

The body is being brought back to Wellington, and it is expected that the interment will take place at the Taita Cemetery on Tuesday next.