DR. CLEARY'S WILL

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 26, 31 January 1930, Page 10

DR. CLEARY'S WILL

A SIMPLE COFFIN

BAN ON THE "DEAD MARCH"

(By Telegraph.—Press Association.)

AUCKLAND, This Day

Tho estate of the late Henry William Cleary, Roman Catholic Bishop of Auckland, was sworn in the Supremo Court at under £1500. Probate and letters of administration were granted by Mr. Justice Smith. To the Sisters of the Sacred Heart, Remuera, Bishop Cleary bequeathed a metal military helmet used by him in Fraco and Belguim during the war years 191G and 1917, together with a captured German bayonet and Brazilian dagger and all fragments'of shells and other tropluoa of the war which he had collected during his service as chaplain. An inlaid sword presented by King George 111. to a Maori chief, and which later came into the possession of Bishop Cleary, he bequeathed to the Sisters of the Sacred Heart, togethc-r with a written description and history of the sword. In his will Bishop Cleary requested the sisters to place the trophies, suitably inscribed, in the convent museum or in any other place where the historic things might bo seen by pupils and visitors. Tho trustee, tho • Right Roy. J. M. Liston, successor to Bishop Cleary as Bishop of Auckland, and the Right Rev! Mousiguor Cahill, of Onehunga, were directed under the terms of the will to stand possessed, free of duty and other charges, or monej' standing to Bishop Cloary's credit or to money to which he was entitled by canon law at free personal disposal of the deceased prelate and which were by him set aside for tho maintenance and support of the Bishop of Auckland and Bishop's House, (1) two meiisal accounts (ecclesiastical income); (2) net rentals of dwellings in St. Mary's road and St. Francis de Sales street, Ponsonby, and of lands at Barry's Point; (3) amounts paid to the late Bishop wholly or in part duo to him by canon law or diocesan custom; (4) all amounts in No. 1 Diocesan Accounts standing to his credit. £50 was to be paid to the Superior of tho Roman Catholic. Mission at Rarantonga, Cook Islands, by way of stipend for tho celebration of masses for the repose of the testator's soul. Bishop Cleary directed how the balance to credit of tho four accounts was to be paid to his nephew, John Cle\iry (soon to be ordained to the priesthood) and niece, Miss Marie M. Cleary, both of Melbourne. The whole of the remainder of the estate was bequeathed to the succeeding Roman "Catholic Bishop of Auckland. Prcciso directions concerning tho obsequies were sot out by the late Dr. Cleary in tho second paragraph of the' will, which was made on 12th December, 1927. "My mind having always been in revolt against the pagan note of hopole'ssness of the 'Dead March iii Saul,' I direct that it shall not bo played at or-in connection with any part of the ceremonies connected with my interment," wrote Dr. Cleary. He also expressed a wish that his remains should be buried in the Roman Catholic Cemetery at Panmurc. Tho coffin was to bo of the "earth to earth" type. It was to be of thin wood, unlincd, varnished but not polished, and a crucifix was to be attached to the lid. There was, however, to bo no ornamental attachment on the coffin or decoration of any kind. No flowers were to be placed about the coffin or grave. "I commend to the, paternal kindness and best consideration of my successor tho pious, devoted, and selfsaerificiiig members of the household staff and the hardworking and efficient man who has had for many years, the contract or looking after the garden of Bishop's House," was another clause.