THE PASSING OF A PIONEER

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLI, Issue 8780, 22 January 1909, Page 5

THE PASSING OF A PIONEER

HENRY SANSON, SENR.

Death, whose imperious summon/? none shall gainsay, has called once more, and from the fast-thinning ranks of the pioneers of the Manawatu the call has been answered. "When /Palmerston was the favourite haunt of pukeko and wild duck, and her. outskirts the majestic and impenetrable forests of totara and pine; when the now smiling landscapes of the Manawatu were trackless wastes of toi-toi and tussock; sullenly challenging the pioneers to a long conflict, that challenge was accepted by a little band of men who made their way from the coast into the unknown country of the Manawatu. Of that band one of the foremost was Henry Sanson, then in the prime of his manhood. He was thirty-six years of age, and the date of the settlement of the Sandon Farm Block was the early seventies. Mr Sanson was a typical pioneer; a toiler—not in our restricted sense of the word, but one who worked as only the early settler knew how; he was a man of striking and determined character, and was soon acknowledged as one _of the leaders among the fast-growing community. He was a member of the first Manawatu County Council in 1876, and the Manawatu County in those days included Horowhenua, Rangitikei, and Kairdnga, as. well as the rich tracts of country now known by its name. Since that date the departed pioneer has served his fellows on every local body, great or small, in his district. Hβ was for many years a member of the Wanganui Education Board, having held the record for length of service on that important body. Mr Sanson was the first farmer to introduce the separator into the. Manawatu district, and his little machine thus began a new era in what is now a famous dairying district' He was also a candidate for Parliament, but his opponents were too strong, among them being Sir Walter Buller, Dr Rockstrow, and Mr J. Gr. Wilson, the latter gentleman being the successful candidate. The latter portion of his residence in Manawatu was spent in Rongotea. About eight years ago he left the district for Wellington, where he lived up till the time of his unexpected death. Mr S. Sanson (of Palmerston North), was in Wellington a day or two ago, and at that time his brother seemed to be in good health, the news that he had passed away quietly in his sleep coming as a great shock. The late Mr Sanson was a prominent Methodist, both in the Manawatu and in Wellington, where his decease will leave a gap in religious and temperance circles that will be hard to fill. Mr Sanson leaves one daughter, Mrs Burcham, of Halcombe, and three sons—Mr Henry Sanson, of Stratford, sheep farmer; Mr John Sanson, of Glen Oroua, dairy farmer; and. Mr Herbert Sanson, of Muratai, Wellington, schoolmaster. '