OBITUARY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20925, 15 July 1931, Page 14

OBITUARY.

MR. T. N. BRODRICK. SERVICE IN LANDS DEPARTMENT. [by telegraph.—own correspondent. ] WELLINGTON, Tuesday.' The death occurred' 4 at Maryborough on Sunday of Mr. Thomas Noel Brodrick, formerly Under-Secrotary of Lands, at the ago of 75. Mr. Brodrick was born in London in 1855 and came with'his parents to Auckland in 1860 in the ship Nimrod. He was educated privately in Invercargill, served his apprenticeship as a surveyor with tho late Hon. G. F. Richardson, afterwards Minister of Lands, and passed his surveyor's examination before entering tho .Public Service. In May, 1877, ho joined tho Lands Department, and first took up duty as an assistant-surveyor on Banks Peninsula. After performing many services of a diverse character in the Canterbury district, he was appointed district surveyor in 1888, and stationed at Timaru. While there he carried out many mountain surveys, including the discovery and mapping of a new route to the West Coastj 'from Lake Ohau to Paringa; the mapping of tho Tasman, Mueller, Hooker, Murchison, Classen, Godley and Richardson glaciers, and tho surrounding country. This work involved the measurement of the rates of travel of the glaciers, the formation of roads and tracks, and tho building of the Ball and Malte Brun huts on tho Tasman Glacier. In 1904 ho was deputed to classify, value, and subdivide tho Flaxbourne Estate of 57,000 acres, in Marlborough. In 1906 he was appointed land officer and inspector of surveys in the Gisborne office, and while thero'he was a member of the Tawawhiti District Maori Land Board. In 1909 ho was promoted to be commissioner of Crown lands and chief surveyor for Hawke's Bay, and in 1910 ho was transferred to a -similar position in the Canterbury land district. Two years later he was transferred to Wellington, and in August, 1915, he was appointed Under-Secretary for Lands. While filling this position he had a very strenuous term of office, owing to the inauguration of tho discharged soldiers' settlement policy. In recognition of the work lie did in that .connection he was awarded the Order of the British Empire, and in 1920 he was made a member of the Imperial Service Order. He was Surveyor-General from May to October, 1920, and a member of the Land Purchase Board from 1909 to the time of his retirement in 1922.. MR. WALTER GRIFFITH. A resident of the Dominion for more than 53 years, Mr. Walter Griffith died recently at his residence, Vauxhall Road, Devonport, after a long illness, aged 73. Born in London, Mr. Griffith was a son of Mr. W. P. Griffith and a brother of the Rev. S. Griffith, of Mount Eden. Coming to New Zealand in 1878, he engaged in farming for some years both in Hawke's Bay and at Omata, New Plymouth, retiring to live at Devonport in 1904. He was an enthusiastic member of the Devonport Bowling Club. Mr. Griffith was twice married. His first wife was Miss Little, of New Plymouth, who died in 1889, leaving four children. Two years later he married Miss A. Gribble, a daughter of the late Captain James Gribble, of Thames, Hamilton and Auckland. Two of the three children of the second marriage are still living. Mr. Griffith is survived by his widow and six children. Tho latter are:— Mrs. Ewart Griffith, of Devonport; Miss Kato Griffith, of Melbourne; Mr. A. Griffith, of Devonport; Mr. F. Griffith, of Wellington; Mr. P. Griffith, of New Plymouth; and Mr. Walter C. Griffith of London, who is in charge of the long-distance wireless telephone communications of the London Telephone Department. He recently successfully arranged the carrying out of the conversation between King George at Buckingham Palace and the Prince of Wales, when he was in Mexico. MR. J. G. HERDMAN. [by telegraph.—press association.] CHKISTCHURCH, Tuesday. The death occurred tlr'p evening of Mr. J. G. Herdman,. manager of the Christchurch branch of Dalgety and Company, Limited, at the age of 60 years. He was formerly stationed at Wellington and Napier.