THE LATE MR BATHGATE.

Evening Star, Issue 20586, 11 September 1930, Page 10

THE LATE MR BATHGATE.

In Dunedin the name of Bathgate is held in high esteem. Fifteen years after the arrival of the pioneer settlers Mr John Bathgate, who was to take so prominent a part in the affairs of this city, of the province, and of the colony, landed in Dunedin. With him came his son Alexander, ready to embark on life’s activities. He began his career in the service of the Bank of Otago t ationed for some time on the goldfields, he saw much of the rough and tumble of the, life associated with the industry in its heyday. Allured by the reports that followed Gabriel Read’s discovery adventurous spirits flocked to Otago from Victoria and elsewliere. and big mining camps sprang up at Tviapeka, at Hamiltdns and Naseby, and at various points along the course of the Molyneux, where rich deposits of gold wore found. I'o Mr Bathgate's young mind the scenes were of intense interest, and in later life he liked to dwell on the elements of chivalry and romance, on the community of interest and unselfishness, and on the courage and powers of endurance that were to be found, among less admirable qualities, in the mining townships. After Mr Bathgate’s, return to Dunedin ho entered the legal profession. It is conceivable that in other circumstances ho might ha e sought a living in literature or as a naturalist, for his tastes lay chiefly in those directions, but in the early days of the colony tho openings for young men were much restricted. Having chosen his life’s work, he engaged in it with charact ;islic thoroughness, and in a ■ city where the legal tradition has been uniformly high ho became one of its most trusted solicitors. His absolute integrity, his directness, and his intellectual qualities gained him thp confidence of many clients. Public life did not appr 1 to him. The spirit of compromise had no place in his life. To him a spado was a spade, and no other implement. But he had a fine civic spirit. For his work as founder half a century ago of what is now the Dunedin- Amenities and Town Planning Society tho city owes him a debt of gratitude. He was tho moving spirit in the society for forty years, and ho saw many waste places in tho city and suburbs transformed to beauty spots. Those who remember what the Octagon, tho Queen’s Gardens, and tho Market Reserve wore like before the society took them, in hand will have some idea of what, under his- direction; it accomplished. His love of trees is reflected, in the inany plantations that are now to be observed, and he was one of, tho first to ..reach,the beauties of our neglected native plants. Mr Bathgate took an interest in commercial matter’s and was a director of several important companies in Dunedin, and in .tho early days of the arbitration system he was chairman of the Industrial Conciliation Board of Otago and Southland, a position of serious responsibility which he filled with marked fairness and impartiality. Mr Bathgate’s literary output was considerable. Much of his prose has a bearing on pioneer conditions, while one or two of the poems of his 1 Far .South Fancies,’ published : ; 1889, live still in more than Now Zealand anthologies. He was a partner in tho ‘ Saturday Advertiser,’ a weekly journal published in past days in this city, under the editorship of Thomas Bracken, and many of his poems appeared in tho columns of that journal. Though of so modest and retiring a disposition, Mr Bathgate had a singularly attractive personality which endeared him to his immediate circle. A high sense of honour, a commendable public spirit, and a vide charity wore features of a life spent usefully and well.