OBITUARY.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LXXII, Issue 8841, 10 July 1889, Page 3

OBITUARY.

JOHN COWELL HOYS. Oeiit., June 13 ; 2Et., 65, The majority of hie friends and acquaintances iu Christchurch itself, bub more particularly in North Canterbury, where Mr J. C. Boys was exceedingly well-known, will be greatly surprised to hear of his death at an early hour ou Thursday, June 13. Though the acute stage of the illness which caused his decease, namely, inflammation of the lungs, ran a rather rapid coarse, he had been suffering for some time past. An attack of bronchitis a fortnight ago had been successfully combated, but too early exposure on recovery resulted in a relapse. Asthma and slight congestion of the lungs complicated the original disorder, and tlio disease rapidly became very serious. On Wednesday evening Dr Prins was called in consultation with Dr Townend, his physician. But little hope, however, was held out that Mr Boys would survive tbe night, and the unfavourable opinion then expressed on the caee proved to be only too well founded. Mr Bays came of an old Sussex family, and his property at Southbrook was called Betshanger after the place in the famous County with which hie earliest associations were connected. Noted for longevity and bodily strength, his family and relatives for generations have been mostly naval or military men. The story of the exploits of a certain military Captain Boys, and his daring escape from a French prison in the .Napoleonic wars, forms very lively reading for those who may chance upon the little volume in which they are related. Of late years the name has been well-known in various high positions, executive and administrative, connected with the Navy.

t;::e hon ds renzie bebtt, m.l.c. Another familiar face wiil be missed from the a ere eta of Christchurch, and from the benches of the usually quiet Upper

House this session. A brave old soldier has fought his last fight with the universal enemy of all men—death; and a warmhearted, impetuous, outspoken Irishman has made his last speech in that Legislative Chamber, whose serenity he was wont occasionally to disturb so terribly. Colonel Brett—as he was always called among us, though we believe he might rightfully have claimed the General’s title—died shortly after one o’clock on Sunday, June IG. He had seen yet another ton added to those tnree score and ten years which the Psalmist assigns as the allotted span of life, and his death must fce ascribed rather to collapse through sheer old age than to any other cause. Within the last few days he bad taken his usual morning walk to the Christchurch Club to rrad the papers and chat in the smoking-room, and though his condition was known to be very critical on Saturday afternoon, people generally were nob aware that the old soldier was ailing. An old warrior he was—and looked 5 a man who had served his Queen and country in many climes, and who was proud of it; one of the type of lighting Irishmen, familiar enough in the pages of our novelists, and in real life in the Old Country, but rarely met out here, aud as full as any of them of the strange combination of those emotional Keltic qualities which endear them to men of the colder British temperament, in spite of extravagances of thought and. speech and action which they can neither emulate nor understand. Colonel Brett was born in Wexford, Ireland, in the year 1809, and two months ago completed his eightieth year. Hia father was a barrister, and resided at Clobemon Hall, Wexford, of which County ho was Captain of the Yeomanry Cavalry. His school days were passed at Portora.near Enniskillen .the headmaster at, the time being Dr Knox, who was subsequently raised to the Episcopal Bench. Colonel Brett married at 8b Michael’s Churclt, Limerick, in 1845, Harriet Baker Harris, daughter of Colonel Harris, of the 24th Regiment of Foot. He leaves three sons and two daughters, who survive him. The Colonel was one of twenty-five children, the issue of the same parents. ME R. J. LOUGHNAN. Mr R. J. Loughnan, a gentleman whose name is widely known in Canterbury, passed away peacefully at hia residence, Ti ford. Ferry road, at an early hour Friday, June 21. Born in London, Mr Loughnan had been for thirty years in India, in the Judicial Service, under the Honourable East India Company, and retired ju»t a year before the mutiny. He then took up his abode in New South Wales, where, for several years, he was engaged in pastoral pursuits, emigrating finally to New Zealand in 1868, and settling in Christchurch. H re. from various circumstances, although he has never taken part in public affairs, Mr Loughnan has been well-known by name, is not personally, to many people. His powers and enthusiasm caused him to be a leading figure in our musical world in days gone by, while his persistent advocacy of the Catholic claims in educational matters also made his name familiar at one time to more than his co-religionists, amongst whom his loss will, of course, be most especially felt. Mr Loughnan, who had attained the great age of eighty-one, leaves a widow and a numerous family, the members of which are settled in various parts of the Colony. MR ALEXANDER WILSON. Mr Alexander Wilson, who has for a long time been well known to the residents of Christchurch, died on June 24, at the age of fifty-six. The deceased was formerly a member of the Irish Constabulary, but left it to better his condition in this Colony. He followed the pursuit of gold digging in Otago and on the West Coast for some years, and also did some contracting on the other side of the range. When matters became slack over on the Coast about twenty-two years ago, he came to Canterbury, and was at once admitted in the Police Force, in which service he remained till April 30 of last year, when he resigned with a retiring allowance. During his service in the Force he gained gradual promotion, till on Jan. 1, 1874, he was appointed First-class Sergeant. On his leaving the Force, he undertook the duties of host at the Albion Hotel, Colombo street North, where he has since resided. An attack of dropsy, from which he has suffered for the last six months, confined

him to his bed, and though hopes were recently entertained of hia recovery, he gradually sank. Mr Wilson was always much respected by his comrades in the Force, and by all with whom he came in contact. He was a member of the Canterbury Masonic Ledge. MR J. J. FLETCHER. Great regret was expressed generally throughout the city, especially among commercial men, when it became known that Mr J. J. Fletcher, senior member o£ the firm of Fletcher, Humphreys and Co., general merchants, had expired at an early hour on July 2. Mr Fletcher, when running to catch the train at the Qlentunnel station recently, got very much heated, and at the same time his clothes became saturated with rain which was falling heavily at the time. He caught the train, and during the journey received a chill, from the effects of which he began to suffer severely only a week ago. Con- ■ gestion of the lungs soon supervened, and this becoming acute, caused his death as ' already recorded, at his residence, Armagh i street West. Mr Fletcher was one of j the most successful merchants that Can- ; terbury has known, and though he never | took a prominent part in politics, he some j ten years ago was Vice-President of the ■ Chamber of Commerce, and for many : years took an active interest in church ; matters at Avonside, of which parish he i was at one time churchwarden. Some I twenty-four years ago Mr Fletcher came J from Nelson, where he arrived by the ! ship John Phillips in the year 1855, to Christchurch, which city he preferred I to Dunedin as a place wherein to establish himself. He at once opened business in the firm of Morrison, Sclandcrs, Fletcher and Co., a branch of the great Lndon firm of Alexander Morrison and i Co.; which also had a branch, Morrison, Sclanders and Co., in Nelson. Some seven years ago Mr Fletcher went into partnership with Mr George Humphreys, who had for many years previously been managing for him, and the more recent establishment has lost nothing of the prestige gained by Mr Fletcher in previous years. Mr Fletcher leaves a wife and five children. j ME T. A. PANNETT. Another of Canterbury’s early settlers, Mr T. A. Pannett, of Lincoln, has lately gone to his rest, having reached the ripe age of seventy-two. Mr Pannett was a native of Sussex. For some twenty years be was engaged in business as a farmer, but the low price of grain immediately following the repeal of the Corn Laws, led i him to decide to leave England and seek a home in New Zealand. Accordingly he, with his family, left England in the ship Lady Nugent, arriving in Lyttelton in September, 1851. After the fashion of the time, the journey thence to Christchurch : was made over the hill and on foot, the elder members of the family carrying the younger members and such , belongings as were sufficiently portj able. Weary and cold, they arrived j after dark in Christchurch, then consisting ;of some twenty houses. Mr Pannett resided for some years at Riccarton, having I leased the well-known Newbigger Farm. ; At the expiration of the lease he took up j new land at Lincoln near where the i School of Agriculture now stands. In his ! new surroundings he soon w on for himself a name for industry and integrity, and enjoyed the respect of all his neighbours. Turougbout hia life Mr Panuctt took an active interest in public affairs. He was | for a considerable time Chairman of the : Springs Eoad Board. In religious movei meats he was ever to the front. He started the first Sunday Sobool in the district, and j helped onward, by personal service and true j liberality, every work which had for its } end (.be glory of the Saviour. Mr Pannett | took jmit in tiie formation of the Baptist i Churches at Christchurch and Lincoln, j continuing a member of the latter until j his death.