OBITUARY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVIII, Issue 8473, 26 January 1891, Page 9

OBITUARY.

SUDDEN DEATH OF MR. JOHN WHITE. We regret to have to record the awfully sudden death of one of our oldest colonists, in the person of Mr. John White, the wellknown Maori scholar, and author of " The Ancient History of the Maori," whose name will be associated with the early history of New Zealand as one of its very earliest pioneer settlers. Mr. White arrived on January 11 from Wellington, accompanied by his wife, being en route to Whakatane, on the East Coast, to attend the Native Lauds Court in that district. He was staying temporarily at the residence of his son, Mr. J. F. White, View Road, Mount Eden. On Jan. 11 he complained of a pain in his chest and shortness of breath, but as he had been suffering from heart disease for years past he did not pay much attention to the matter, attributing the breast pang to indigestion. While going to the Grafton Road Wesleyan Church in the evening with one of his relatives he stopped half-a-dozen times on the road for breath, feeling fatigued. Notwithstanding, he was about town all day on January 12 seeing his friends, and walked about a good deal. In the evening quite a number of his old friends were at his son's residence to welcome him to Auckland again, and to renew a pleasurable acquaintance with him. The evening was devoted to talking over some Old Auckland reminiscences, the conversation being prolonged till near midnight. Mr. Whits was very cheerful and genial, and had apparently no premonitions t hat his end was so near. Shortly after midnight Mr. and • Mrs. White retired to rest. He had just bade his wife " Good night" when he turned over, gave two heavy sighs, and died almost instantly. Alarmed by his heavy breathing, Mrs. White jumped out of bed, struck a light, and on endeavouring to raise his head on the pillow, found his eyes closed, and that he was dead. Mr. John Douglas, a neighbour, was roused up (Mr. White's sou being away on his holidays at Whangarei), and he at once procured the attendance of Dr. Roberton, who pronounced life extinct. The doctor was to make a post-mortem examination on Jan. 13, and his certificate will obviate the necessity for an inquest. Mr. White was attended by Dr. Philson over a quarter of a century ago for enlargement of the heart, and the doctor then expressed the opinion that he would probably die suddenly. Deceased was 65 years of age, and was the third son of the late Mr. Francis White. He leaves a widow and three sons and four daughters to mourn his loss. Mr. White was to have attended the meeting of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, of which he was a member, to read a paper on " Maori Folk Lore ;" but, owing to have to proceed to Whakatane, he was unable to attend, and the paper was forwarded to Professor Hutton, who was to read it. Mr. White left England with his parent®, Mr. and Mrs. Francis White, for New Zealand via Sydney in 1834, in the barque Fortune. On reaching Sydney it was found necessary to take passage in the schooner Friendship, via Norfolk Island, as she had to land stores there for the prisoners, it being then a penal settlement. At Norfolk Island the schooner got wrecked, and the family had to embark in the brig Governor Philip and return to Sydney to await another opportunity of getting to New Zealand. They landed at the Bay of Islands in 1835, and went on to Hokianga. From boyhood-Mr. White cultivated the friendship of the old Maori tohungas, and mastered their priest lore, and their sacerdotal mysteries and ceremonies ; and perhaps no living European had so complete a knowledge of the history, traditions, customs, and language of the Maori people. On the outbreak of the Heke war his people had to come as refugees to Auckland, where they afterwards remained, his mother dying in 1868 and his father in 1877. About 1850, Mr. White was appointed as an interpreter in the Native Office, and generally acted as interpreter to Sir George Grey, and afterwards to Governor Gore Browne. Subsequently ho was attached to the Native Land Purchase Department, and assisted in procuring the extinguishment of the native title for the Government to many of the lands in the vicinity of Auckland. On the outbreak of the Taranaki war, in 1860, Mr. White was attached to the staff of General Pratt, as Field Interpreter, and was present at the engagementof Puketakauere. Atthe close of the war Sir George Grey arrived from the Cape on his second Governorship, and determined to counteract the King movement by the establishment of what was termed the " New Institutions." Mr. White was appointed Resident Magistrate at Wanganui, a post which he held for some years during the troublous times on the West Coast, and exercised great influence over the natives of the Wanganui district. About 1867 Mr. White came back to Auckland, and was employed some time under the Provincial Government in matters concerning the natives. Afterwards he went to Napier, and was engaged on duties connected with a Maori paper published there. For the past five or six years he has lived in Wellington, having been entrusted by the Government with the important duty of writing a complete history of the Maori race, embodying all their ancient mythology and religion. About half-a-dozen volumes of his work, " The Ancient History of the Maori," have been issued from the Government printing press at Wellington. He estimated that the immense mass of information which he had collected would expand the work to twelve volumes, with an additional volume for the pharmacopoeia-of the Maoris. The Assembly, in the " roar for retrenchment," decided to stop the work in its present incomplete state, though the manuscript of two or three volumes was ready for the press, another batch ready for translation, and the material for the remainder of the work collated. The action of the Assembly worried Mr. White a good deal, as he had devoted his life to the preparation of 'the materials for the work, and had a laudable ambition to see the lore he had collected embalmed in a permanent standard history of the Maori people. He was also engaged on a Maori dictionary, which it was estimated would contain many thousand words. Professor Max Muller was much interested in his work and commended it highly. Mr. White, over a quarter of a century ago, delivered several lectures 'before the Young Men's Christian Association, on the "Superstitions of the Maoris," which were republished in pamphlet form. He was also the author of a work entitled, " Te Rou ; or, the Maori at Home," descriptive of the social life and customs of the Maoris prior to the advent of the Europeans. Mr. White was a man of kindly, genial disposition, and much esteemed and re- ■ spected for his integrity, He was a lifelong member of the Wesleyan communion. His terribly sudden death will be_ deeply regretted, nob wily by ft large circle -ot

friends and acquaintances, bub by the Auckland community at large, where he was so well and widely known. The funeral of the late Mr. John White took place on the 14th January, at the general cemetery, Symonds-street. The chief mourners were Mr. W. B. White (son), Mrs. E. Martin and Mrs. John Phillipps (sisters), Messrs. Martin and Phillipps (brothers-in-law), and Mr. C. Phillipps and the Messrs. White (3), nephews of the deceased.

Another well-known citizen ot long standing on Dec. 30 joined the great, majority in tho person of Mr. John L. Hatswell of Princes-street. Deceased had been for years a prominent Freemason, and held high office in Lodge Waitemata, while he was also long connected with the Order of Foresters in Court City of Auckland. He also took a keen interest in volunteering, and was one of the oldest honorary members of the "A" Battery of Artillery, in which he had previously been an active volunteer. Mr. Hatswell, who is a native of Somersetshire, arrived here in the ship Devonshire in 1562, and after serving with Mr. C. Canning for some time, in IS6S established a provision business in Princes- . street, in which he has remained ever since. The funeral left his late residence on December 31 at 4 p.m. for the Symondsstreet Cemetery, and was followed by the deceased's brother Masons and I oresters, while the "A" Battery attended in full uniform. It will be seen from our obituary column that Mr. Peter Birley, of Sea field View, an old Auckland tradesman, has died. He was one of the most skilled and ingenious iron workers in the colony. Mr. Birley was born in Ripponden, Yorkshire, in 1829, and served his apprenticeship in Manchester. There at the age of IS he took his father's place at Mr. Shaw's mills, Butlerstreet. In his overtime he commenced experimenting in the construction of the first breech-loading guns. In 18.35 lie was advised to take it to London, where his invention was highly commended, and further improved upon. In 1859 came out to Auckland in the ship Tornado, selling out in ISG2 to Messrs. Fraser and Davidson, whose business ultimately expended into the large establishment of Fraser and Tinne. In 1573, Mr. Birley returned to England, but came out again, and recommenced business, which he has ever since continued. When a young man in the mother country, he made an endless chain, forged without a weld, which secured a good deal of attention at the Great Exhibition of 1851. Many years asro, in this city, he made a pair of smoking pipes, three feet in length, of wrought iron, which were presented to the Auckland Museum, and also a steel penknife blade with an unburnt straw embedded in it throughout its whole length. The Hon. William Swanson presented the article to the Wellington Museum, and referred to the matter in the Legislature, challenging hon. members to produce in their respective districts any work which could rival it. At the Sydney Exhibition of 1579 Mr. Birley obtained the first prize for ornamental ironwork —a fuschia— honour was also accorded to it at the Melbourne Exhibition of 1 SSI, the Industrial Exhibition at Wellington, and the Indian and Colonial Exhibition at London. Some years ago Mr. Birley had a narrow escape of being drowned by the capsize of a boat in the harbour, one of his companions, a Mr. Lee losing his life. He has been in business in Seatield View for some years past, and about five months ago took a spinal complaint to which he succumbed. Deceased was a member of the Lodge of Oddfellows, Parnell. He leaves a widow and a family of two sons and five

iaughters. We regret to record the sudden death of 'Captain Thos. J. H. Penr.ail, an old Auckland shipmaster, on the 15th January, the third case of sudden death by heart disease during the past week. He had just returned from the Manukau, after taking the little steamer Tarn CTShanter from she Kaipara to Onehunga for a firm engaged n the timber trade. He arrived at his nome in Murdoch Road, Surrey Hills, on ihe 15th January in his usual health. After tea he took a warm bath, and was in the act of retiring to rest about half-past nine o'clo;k, when he took a tit of couching, fell down, and gasping out, " I'm going ; goodbye,'* to his wife, almost immediately afterwards expired. A neighbour, Mr. •Jarrett, to whom Mrs. Pennall cave the alarm, went for Dr. Knight, who was speedily in attendance, but all that was left for him to do was to prono ince life extinct. Dr. Knight gave a certificate of the cause of death, nnmely, heart disease, to which he was subject. Deceased *vas only 51 years of age, and leaves a widow but no family. Latterly he had been encaged in ieachingnavigation. For twenty years he had traded in and out of this port, principally to the South Sea Islands. The shipping in port had their flags at half-mast on Jan. 16, is a token of respect to his memory. The wide-spread feeling of regret which prevailed during the past few days, when the news of the dangerous illness of the Rev. John Macky, was known to his numerous friends in Auckland, will become intensified now that the tidings of his death, on January 23 about five p.m., is published. The Rev. John Macky was born at Londonderry on September 7,1820, and studied for the Presbyterian Ministry at Glasgow University. He obtained his ALA. degree at the early age of 18& years, and was ordained by the Derry Presbytery to the congregation of Faban in 1842. He was called by the mission directors of the Presbyterian Church of Ireland to the colonial mission in New Zealand in December, 1853, and arrived here in the ship Cashmere in August 20, 1854, accompanied by his father, mother, wife, and sister, and amongst their fellow-passengers were Mrs. Alexander and her two sons, one of whom—then a boyis now the well-known solicitor, Mr. J. M. Alexander. Mrs. Alexander was a sister-in-law of the Rev. J. Macky. During his long life in the Ocahuhu, Papatoetoe, and surrounding district Mr. Macky led a very active life, discharging in a most faithful manner the duties of a minister of God, visiting and encouraging the sick and poor, and offering to all the splendid example of a blameless life. In his latter years he became almost blind, and retired from the active duties of his ministry, though he still held the position of Pastor Emeritus of the Otara Church, his son-in-law, the Rev. Mr. Steele, being associated with him in the charge. Another very sudden death occurred on the 17th January, at Richmond Road, Ponsonby, when Mrs. Tripp, the wife of Mr. H. C. Tripp, grocer, succumbed to an apo- I plectic fit. The deceased lady was found in her bedroom by her son, in a semi-uncon-scious state, about half-past four p.m. Dr. Moir was immediately sent for, and was promptly in attendance, but medical skill could not save her, and at half-past eight p.m. she passed peacefully away, never having recovered consciousness. .She was an old settler, having arrived here from London with her husband in May, 1860, and for the last 20 years she has lived at her late residence, where, by her genial disposition and kindly manner, she endeared herself to a large circle of friends and neighbours. She leaves two sous, a daughter, and granddaughter to mourn her loss.

Our Waipu correspondence writes : —I regret to have to record the death of Mrs. Isabella Matbieson on the 12th January, after having attained to the advanced uge of 97. She was a woman of exceedingly strong physique, but unfortunately met with an accident some time ago, whereby her hip was dislocated, and she suffered much pain in consequence, the limb never having been set. It will be seen by our obituary column that Mr. A. B. Broomhall, the well-known photographer, died on Jan. 16 at the early ige of 32. He came out to the colony from England some years ago in delicate health, suffering from injury to his spine, and it was hoped that the change of climate would prove beneficial to him. The funeral took sake place on January 18 at half-past three o'clock, and the Auckland Camera Club, of which deceased was a member, attended. One of the oldest pensioners in New Zealand, Mr. Francis Ornisby, better known by his friends as Francis Orinsby Queenan (the latter name being adopted), died at the residence of his son-in-law, Captain Mincham, in YVakefield-street, at the extreme old age of 93. Deceased was a native of County Sligo, Ireland. His father was solonel in the British army, aide-de-camp bo the Duke of Wellington, and present at the battle of Waterloo. Deceased was related to Lord Dunraven by marriage. At one time, it is stated, he was a major in the ,rmy, but sold out his commission and enlisted subsequently as a private soldier, and .served in some of the iMew Zealand wars. (For 45 years past) be baa drawn a pension

from the British Government. His brother is Sir Michael Ormsby, Bart. The deceased has had a career marked by many chequered and romantic adventures. Our Pukekohe West correspondent writes: —I have to record a very sudden death ii. our midst, of one of our oldest settlers, viz., Mr. W. H. Reynolds. On Friday night, the 16th January, he retired to rest in his usual health, but next morning (Saturday) his daughter, with whom he resides, went to his room about seven o'clock, and found him dead, but warm. He is supposed to have died of heart disease. No inquest

' was held, as it was thought unnecessary. Some years ago Mr. Reynolds was thrown from his horse and injured himself about 1 tho region of the heart, and it is supposed that the result of the fall had a great deal 1 to do with his sudden death, as in other respects Mr. Reynolds was a hale and hearty man for his years, his ago being 70. His funeral took place on Sunday, the 18th January, at four p.m., and being one of the oldest Orangemen in the district, he was honoured with an Orange funeral. We have to record the loss of another old settler by the death of Mrs. Blake, a colonist of 31 years standing, and almost all that time she resided at Drury. After a lingering and painful illness, she peacefully departed on the 10th January. Tho funeral took place on the following day, and was very largely attended by the settlers at Drury, and of surrounding districts. Another funeral took place at Drury on Jan. 15, when the remains of the late Mrs. Barclay, of Maketu, who died very suddenly, were laid in the same cemetery. The deceased was much respected by a large circle of friends, and she has left her husband and a family of six—three sons and three daughters—to mourn their loss. In our obituary column is recorded the death of Mrs. Duthie, an old colonist, and wife of Mr. Alexander Duthie, formerly in business as a shipbuilder. Mrs. Duthie died at her temporary residence in Avonstreet, off Symonds-street. Her funeral, which took place on Jan. 11, was largely attended. There died at the District Hospital, on Jan. 12, Mr. John Henry McFarland, formerly messenger at the Bank of Isew Zealand, at the early age of 37. Deceased had seen service in the Zulu war. He was an oilicer of Lodge Ara, New Zealand Constitution, and received a Masonic funeral, i The funeral left the Hospital at half-past three p.m. on January 13 for Purewa cemetery. Another sudden death occurred on Jan. 14, namely, that of Mrs. Margaret O'Brien, boardinghouse-keeper, Shortland - street. Mrs. O'Brien was a woman of 72 years of years of age, stout, and asthmatical, and also had heart disease. Dr. Kenderdine gave a certificate of death, so that an inquest was unnecessary. In our obituary columns will be found recorded the death of Mr. George Wightman, caretaker of the new Customs Buildings. He was formerly caretaker and messenger at the Public Works Department in the Supreme Court Buildings, and was transferred to the new Customs Buildings. Mr. Samuel Short, only brother of the late Mr. Thomas Short, died at his nephew's residence, Te Awamutu, at the advanced age of 70. Deceased had recently arrived from the Mother Country, via Sydney, and had beep visiting in Sydney his brother-in-law, the Hon. J. B. Ruddle. Wiremu Wharepa died in the Wellington Gaol on Dec. 29. Deceased was undergoing a life sentence for murder committed at the Chatham Islands ten years ago. Another old identity has passed over to the great majority, Mrs. William Williams, of -street, at the comparatively early age of 63 years. Mrs. Williams arrived in the colony in 1554 in the Joseph Fletcher, a widow, accompanied by her only son, Mr. Charles Overton, who still survives. In the year following her arrival here she was married to Mr. William Williams, and the issue of the marriage is one son, Fred, who is married, and is residing in Brisbane, and one daughter, Mrs. Fairs, who is residing in Wellington. Mr. Henry Manders, former representative of Lake Wakatipu in Parliament, died suddenly on January 5.