OBITUARY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 21037, 23 November 1931, Page 12

OBITUARY.

MR. THOMAS BIRCH. WELL-KNOWN SHIPPING FIGURE. The death occurred last evening of Mr. Thomas Bircli, who was well known in shipping circles in Auckland when he was wharf superintendent for the Union Steam Ship Company from 1885 to 1917. Mr. Birch was born at Rotherhithe, England, in 1851 and as a youth wont to Australia. He was in the employ of the Melbourne and Hobson Bay Railway Company from 1867 to 1875 and ho left the company to go to sea as purser in the McMeckan-Blackwood Steamship Company's intercolonial steamers. He was in the steamers Otago, Tararua and Arawata until 1878, when the McMeckanBlackwood Company was absorbed by the Union Company and Mr. Birch was transferred to the service of the new owners.

When he was with the Union Company Mr._ Birch was purser of the Otago, Arawata, Te Anau and Rotomahana. He was purser of the Otago when she was wrecked on Chaslands Mistake, Otago, on December 4, 1876, and became a total loss. In 1885 Mr. Birch was appointed wharf superintendent for the company at Auckland and he held that position for 32 years. In July, 1917, he retired on superannuation and since then he had resided at Balfour Road, Parnell. He leaves a widow and two daughters. The funeral will take place to-morrow at Purewa Cemetery.

MR. BENEDICT REMIGER. The death occurred at the Auckland Hospital last week of a pioneer settler, Mr. Benedict Remiger, of Puhoi, at the age of 80 years. Mr. Remiger came to New Zealand as a lad in 1863, being one of a party of immigrants from Bohemia. He took up farming at Puhoi on land which in those days was dense bush. He passed through the many hardships incidental to the old pioneering days, gradually building up a home of many acres by hard work, industry and thrift. Ho always took an active part in the religious and social welfare and progress of his district. The funeral, which took place at Puhoi, was attended by a large gathering of friends from the city and surrounding districts. He is survived by Mrs. Remiger and a family of two sons, Messrs. T. and J. Remiger. of Puhoi, and nine daughters, Mesdames John Scholium, E. Schisehka and C. Straka, of Puhoi, G. Kirkham, of Auckland, E. Karl, of Paterangi, A. Scholium, of Big Omaha, G. Berger, of Ahuroa, and A. Scholium, of Gisborne, and Miss K. Remiger, of Gisborne.

MRS. A. L. TREVITHICK. The death occurred on Friday of Mrs. Annie Louisa Trevithick, at her residence, 80, Owen's Road, Mount Eden, in her 84th year. She came from England with her husband and three young children in the sailing ship Souka in 1879. and the family settled at Devonport, where they resided for seven years. They then removed, to Mount Eden, where Mrs. Trevithick had lived ever since. Mrs. Trevithick, who was the widow of the late Mr. James Garland Trevithick, technical master at the Auckland Grammar School for 27 years, took an interest in church work, attending regularly at St. Barnabas', Mount Eden. She is survived by three daughters and two sons. They are Mrs. G. P. Peacock, of Gisborne, Misses B. and N. Trevithick, of Mount Eden, and Messrs. G. Trevithick, of Devonport, and Cecil Trevithick, of Epsom. There are four grandchildren.

MR. A. T. POTTER. [from our own correspondent.] WHANGAREI, Saturday. The death took place of Mr. Albert Thomas Potter yesterday at his residence, Whangarei Heads, aged 72 years. Born in Tasmania, deceased camo to New Zealand with his parents in 1864. A few years later he went to Fiji, where he studied entomology, and upon his return he was appointed Government entomologist and viticulturist. Early in his appointment as viticulturist, Mr. Potter bad to deal with the first outbreak of phylloxera in Whangarei, which was then a centre for grape culture, and he found it necessary to .burn some of the finest vines. Of recent years Mr. and Mrs. Potter have lived in retirement in Urquhart's Bay, on the Whangarei Harbour, where Mr. Potter devoted himself to landscape gardening, turning a rough piece of ground into a beautiful locality, which has attracted many visitors. He leaves a widow and an adult family of eight.