MR E. V. RIDDIFORD DEAD

Northern Advocate, 12 October 1934, Page 5

MR E. V. RIDDIFORD DEAD

1 EXPIRES AT SEA. SUCCESSFUL PASTORALIST. PROMINENT RACING MAN. (Per Press Association.—Copyright.) WELLINGTON, This Day. Private advice was received in Weljlington last night of the death at sea (yesterday morning of Mr Edward ! Vivian Riddiford. Mr Riddiford was Returning from a trip to England on the, Rangitiki,. which is due at Auckland on October. 24, and was accompanied by his wife and daughter, Miss Pamela Riddiford, One of the Dominion’s best known and most successful pastoralists, Mr /Riddiford, whose.home is at Woburn, } Lower Hutt, was equally prominent in racing, circles.. He was a notable participant and; enthusiast of one of a family whose turf associations are part of the history of the sport in this country. Apart from his activities as a pastorialist, racehorse owner and breeder, Mr Riddiford was widely known and ; popular as a citizen and. sportsman, I.who, .in the fullest sense, played a • large, part in the social life of the c0m"737. and whose allegiance to racj ing'did not overshadow his interest in i golf and tennis, two pastimes with which he was most prominently identified.

Beginning as a cadet on his father’s property, Mr Riddiford had a long and successful career ar a sheep farmer, first as an estate manager and afterwards as an owner. ■ He was 55 years of age. Born at Lower Hutt, he was a son of the late Mr E. J. Riddiford, and grandson of one of New Zealand’s earliest pioneers, Mr Daniel Riddiford, who arrived in New Zealand in 1840, He was educated at Wanganui Collegiate School, and began his career as a sheep farmer on hiS father’s property at Te Awaiti, Wairarapa. Later Mr Riddiford managed his father’s properties, including “Longburn” and “Cheltenham.” Mr E. J. Riddiford died in 1911 and Mr Vivian Riddiford took over “Blengurn,” a sheep and cattle run on the east coast, “Tablelands,” a Romney Marsh sheep stud in the Wairarapa, and “Brentwood,” the noted Trentham racing stud. In 1908 he married Miss Zoe Thorne-George, third daughter of the Hon. Seymour Thorne-George, of Auckland. Their two daughters are Mrs J. Vogel, of Lower Hutt, and Miss Pamela Riddiford.

Mr Riddiford’s brother, Mr Eric Riddiford, owner of the Orongorongo station, where he resides, was his partner in a remarkably successful racing career, during which they won a large number of principal handicap races in New Zealand, including the Auckland Cup, the Grand National and the New Zealand Cup. On his own account Mr Riddiford was the holder of the Wellington Cup, the Mitchelson Cup, and other coveted racing trophies. Early in 1932 Mr Riddiford retired from active participation in racing.