OBITUARY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19607, 8 April 1927, Page 12

OBITUARY.

A GOLDFiELDS PIONEER.

DEATH OF MR. JOHN LEYDON.

The death of Mr. John Levdon in Auckland yestefday removed another of the pioneers of the Thames goldfields. When the Thames goldfield was ,in its heyday, Mr. Leydon was more than an individual there —he was a real institution—auctioneer, general dealer, mining investor, lecturer, amateur phrenologist/ mesmerist and a leading officer among the Oddfellows. Though of Irish parentage, Mr. Leydon was a native of Sunderland, in the north of England. His youth was spent, at sea, and, after one of his voyages to India, he landed at Melbourne in 1858, a lad of 16. In Victoria he spent six years, moving from one gold rush to another. In 1864 he was attracted to Hokitika, and for three years carried on business on,.the West Coast as a trader and at other times as a hotelkeeper and owner of a coaching line and a ferry boat across the Arahura River, besides taking his part in goldmining enterprises. When the rush to the .Thames set in, Mr. Leydon was .early on the scene—at a stage when Shortland: was a canvas town, and most of the flat portion of the district a swamp. He spent some 14 months, and a large amount of capital, in a partnership in a claim at Puriri, where he and his mates erected a fivestamp- battery, but the results of the venture proved disappointing. Then Mr. Leydon established the auctioneering business and general store which he carried on for the remainder of his residence on the goldfield. During that period he took an active part in the affairs of the district, and generally was one of the best-known men of the town, In one of the elections to the Auckland Provincial Council he was a candidate against the late Mr. L. J. Bagnall, and came within two votes of being returned. For nine years he was a member of the Thames Harbour Board. Next, Mr. Leydon was drawn away by the rush, to the Palmer diggings, North Quensland, but after a year or two the state of his health brought him back to New Zealand. Winding up his businesses at the Thames, which had still been Carried on in his absence, he came to Auckland and establish&d another auctioneering business, in conjunction with his brother, Mr. Edward Leydon. After 13 vears he shifted again, this time to Stratford, where he was in business on a largti scale until an injury to his knee, received in an accident on the railway platform, and which formed the subject of a lawsuit against the Government, compelled him to relinquish active ways and settle in Auckland, where he has lived ever since. Mr. Leydon was one of the earliest prospectors of the Waihi golfield, having received a "tip" from an old swagger to whom, in 1878, he g&ve a "lift" in his trap on the Thames-Paeroa Road, and who had with him a gold-bearing stone. Though the gold-fmding enterprises of his party did' not meet with success, he always claimed that they were the first to conceive the possibilities of the Martha Hill. His associates in this venture were Messrs. John Nicks and W. Nicholl, wellknown goldfields pioneers. Mr. Leydon was one of the oldest members of the Manchester Unity Order of Oddfellows in the Auckland district, and he has held some of the highest offices in the institution. He joined the order at the Thames in 1870, as a member of the Loyal Waikato Lodge, and was untiring in the interests of Qddfellowship for the rest of his life. In 1894 he was installed as provincial grand master of Auckland, and later filled the position of district treasurer, which he held until his departure for Taranaki. The Waihi Lodge of the Order is named after him. MRS. MARY ANN REYNOLDS. [BY TELEGRAPH. OWN CORRESPONDENT.] PUKEKOHE, Thursday. The death has occurred of Mrs. Mary Ann Reynolds, an early settler in the Pukekohe district, and widow of Mr. W. H. Reynolds, at the age of 66 years. Mrs. Reynolds came to New Zealand from Ireland in the ship May Queen, in 1878, and settled in Pukekohe. She leaves! two sons and four daughters, .