OBITUARY

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 80, 12 June 1945, Page 2

OBITUARY

MRS EMILY EVA FURNESS l Another of the few remaining links with the earliest days of the Nelson settlement was severed by the death in Blenheim on Wednesday night of Mrs Emily Eva Furness, whose parents, Mr and Mrs Thomas Hough, arrived from England in the ship Olympus in the spring of 1842. Mrs Furness, who was in her 90th year, was the youngest of their 13 children, and was born in Nelson in 1856. Her father, a Yorkshireman, was an engineer, but he gave up his profession in order to respond to the call for missionaries to work amongst the Maoris. The Church of England had no vacancies, so he joined up with the Methodists, and shortly after his arrival in New Zealand left with his wife \ind children for Taranaki, where he laboured for some years until Mrs Hough’s health gave way. Returning to Nelson, Mr Hough “kept store,” both in the town and on the Cjollingwood goldfields, and for many years acted as interpreter in the Courts w4nen cases involving the Natives were being heard. He claimed to have discovered a route from Golden Bay to the Karamea, but Sir Arthur Dobson disputed this claim. After completing her education, his daughter Emily became a teacher, being engaged principally at the Tasman Street School. She also acted as organist in the Methodist Church. In 1879 she married the late Mr S. J. Furness, who had conducted a printing office in the city for several years, and they voyaged from Nelson to Blenheim in the paddlesteamer Lyttelton. At the end of the year Mr Furness, in partnership with the late Mr J. H. Boundy, purchased “The Express.”. With the varying fortunes of the town of Blenheim, Mrs Furness had thus been associated for over 65 years. One of her most cherished memories, however, was of a visit she paid to Nelson a few years ago, where she was met at morning tea by several of her old pupils at the residence of her niece, Mrs Henry Neale. Mr Furness died in 1921, and Mrs Frank Robinson, the eldest daughter, also pre-deceased her mother, who is survived by two daughters, Mesdames F. J. Hill (Hastings), and A. J. Parris (Timaru), and two sons, Messrs R. P. and G. Furness (Blenheim). There are 16 grandchildren and eight greatgrandchildren. One grandson, P/O. J. E. Hull, of the R.A.F., gave his life in the early days of the war. The funeral service, at the residence of Mr G. Furness and at the graveside, was conducted by the Ven. Archdeacon Haultain. The pall-bearers were four grandsons—Captain J. G. Furness, M.C., Flying Officer D. M. Furness, Gunner P. C. Furness and Mr T. H. Furness.