DEATH OF DISTINGUISHED CHURCHMAN ANDSCHOLAR

Manawatu Times, Volume LIV, Issue 6889, 20 April 1929, Page 10

DEATH OF DISTINGUISHED CHURCHMAN ANDSCHOLAR

VERY REV. 'DEAN FITCHETT. FOR 50 YEArTvICAR OF ALL SAINTS', DUNEDIN. p e r Pres 3 Association. DUNEDIN, Last Night. The death Ims occurred .of Dean Fitchett, aged 93. He was vicar of A 1 Saints' Church for 49 years, and re tired last year. He was one of the best known Anglican churchmen and one of the most brilliant classical scholars in New Zeeland.

The death of, the Very Rev. Dean Alfred Robertson Fitchett, formerly vicar of All Saints’ Church, Dunedin, removes one of the best known members of the Anglican clergy in the Dominion. He was a power in Dunedin apart from his church work, and m the church itself always took a leading part in the Diocese of Otago and m the work of the church in the province of New Zealand. He was the “father’ of the General Synod, having represented Dunedin diocese on that body for 45 years. His preaching never failed to command attention, for he was a man of sound scholarship and great literary attainment, while as a lecturer and journalist he had an equally prominent reputation. Hg was also a clever musician, who understood music from the historical and technical viewpoints. At Otago University Dean Fitchett graduated B.A. in 1878, and the following year was appointed vicar of All Saints’. He graduated M.A. in 1882, and later pbtained his D.D'. degree at the Trinity University, Toronto. In 1894 he was created Dean of Dunedin. He was appointed a member of the Otago High Board of Governors, and was subsequently elected chairman of the board. He was also locum tenens for one year of the Chair of Classics at Otago University, and for many years was lecturer in classics at Selwyn College. The Dean was commissary to the Right Rev. Dr. Nevill, Bishop of Dunedin and Primate of New Zealand, in 190 G, 1911, and 1919, and was appointed commissary to Bishop Richards in 1921. In last year’s Birthday Honours the late Dean received a C.M.G., a fitting tribute to his fine life work. The lato Dean’s sons are also well known, particularly in the South Island. The Vcn. Archdeacon W. A. R. Fitchett is Vicar of St. John’s, Roslyn, a suburb of Dunedin, and Dr. Frank Fitchett is a professor at the Otago Medical School.