OBITUARY

Evening Star, Issue 21581, 29 November 1933, Page 8

OBITUARY

MR R. ANNiNG BELL, R.A. Preii Association—By Teiegrsph—Copyright. LONDON, November 28. (Received November 29, at 1 a.m.) The death is announced of Mr' Aiming Bell, R.A. [Mr Robert Aiming Bell was born in London in 1863. He was a painter, modeller, designer of stained glass, mosaic, and other decorative work, and was an illustrator of books. Paintings by him hang in the National Gallery of British Art, the Walker Art Gallery at Liverpool, the Bradford Art Gallery, and in a number of the Continental galleries. He was elected a Royal Acadamiciau in 1922.] MR A. B. ROBERTOH After a brief illness following an operation Mr Arthur Benjamin Roberton, a well-known Auckland City merchant and shipping agent, died in a private hospital this morning. He was managing director of Heather, Roberton Ltd., shipping agents and merchants, and was a son of Mr John Roberton, an Auckland merchant in the early days. The deceased with the late Mr Harold D. Heather founded the firm of Heather, Robertson Ltd. in 1887. Mr Roberton was married to Miss Ida Eleanor Pierce, a daughter of Mr G. P. Pierce, and there are four daughters. The deceased’s activities in commercial life covered a wide field. He was chairman of the council of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce m 1905, a member of the Northern Club and the Rotary Club, also an ex-mem-ber of the council of the New Zealand Societv of Accountants. Ho served on the directorate of several companies, including the South British Insurance Company, Wilson’s Cement, the Union Oil, Soap, and Candle Company, Grey and Menzies Ltd., and Bycroft Ltd. He was also chairman of directors of the Northern Steamship Company and Consul for Japan since 1922. The deceased was a staunch, Anglican, having filled many positions in the church. In June, 1904, he was elected to the General Trust Board of the Diocese of Auckland in succession to Captain M. T. Clayton, and in 1918 he was elected chairman of the board, a position lie held continuously until Ins death. In Juno, 1903, lie succeeded Mr A. Heather as a member of the Melanesian Mission Trust Board, and in 1911 was elected by the Synod of the Diocese of Auckland as representative on the Diocesan Pension Board. In Julv, 1919, he was appointed a member of the Diocesan Office Trust Board, and in August of the same year he was elected chairman, holding the position ever since. From July, 1919, to April, 1925, he was a member of St. John’s College Trust Board. In 1911 he was elected a member of the Synod, and in 1916 he was elected as one of the Auckland representatives on the General Synod. Both appointments Mr Roberton held at the time of his death.— Auckland correspondent.

MR JAMES GEBBIE After eighty-four years’ residence in New Zealand Mr James Gebbie died at Orakei road, Remuera, Auckland, on November 23; aged eighty-seven. He arrived at Port Chalmers with his parents in the ship Mooltan in 1849, and attended the first school established in Dunedin. Mr Gebbie was a gardener, and for twenty-six years contributed notes on horticulture to the 1 Otago "Witness.’ He laid out the Public Gardens at Oaraaru in 1892, and later was curator for ten years. In 1919 Mr Gebbie went to live in Auckland. He is survived by four children —Pastor Ralph Gebbie, of the Church of Christ, Ponsonby road; Mr Ernest Gebbie, of Sydney; Mrs J. Holt, of Henderson; and Mrs Rrinkman.- of Tan mar-unui.—Auckland correspondent.