OBITUARY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20811, 2 September 1929, Page 10

OBITUARY.

MR H. T. LITTLE. Mr H. T. Little, whose death occurred at Hui Hui, Woodgrove, North Canterbury, last week, was one of the Dominion’s most prominent sheep breeders, and his name had always been associated with Corriedales wherever the breed is known. Mr Little’s father originated the Corriedale breed about 50 ago, and, for the past 25 years, the son had continued the work of development. His death is therefore a great loss to the pastoral industry of New Zealand, i Mr Little was born in 1868 at the Corriedale Estate, near Oamaru, where his father was manager for Dr Webster.. He received has early education at the' Mahepo School, and concluded his primary studies at Araberley, hie father having acquired the Allandale Estate at Waikari in 1879. After some years at the Christchurch Boys’ High School, he joined his father at Allandale. Mr Little, sen., subsequently took over the Mount Hawarden Estate for his son, and.he also shifted to Heathstock. In 1905, Mr Little, jun., sold Heathstock, and purchased the Hui Hui Estate, which was part of the original Horsley Downs Station, from Messrs M‘Eae and Macfarlane. It was this property that he made famous as a nursery of the Corriedale breed. He later disposed of Mount Hawarden, and took over Glenorchy, which he also developed into a stud property, and worked it in conjunction with Hui Hui. During his association with his father, Mr Little acquired much knowledge of the work he had undertaken, and he went on to establish the breed in wider fields. He was always very jealous of the name of Corriedale, and he would never let a sheep' leave the stud either for export or for the local market unless it conformed with the ideal of what ho thought it should be. He had taken prizes at all the metropolitan and royal shows at which his stock competed, and, a*; the various fairs, he always topped, or nearly topped, the price list. He often acted ae judge at various Dominion shows, and many exhibitors gained valuable information from him regarding the points that counted and detracted in their sheep. Ho had also exhibited and judged in Sydney. Mr Little had exported Corriedales to the Argentine and the Falkland Islands, and sheep from his stud now form the nucleus of the flock which is the pioneer of the breed in Scotland. Though the calls of his special work left him little time to participate in public affairs, Mr Little was a keen supporter of nil local movements, including the Hawarden Agricultural and Pastoral Association. Two years ago, while attending the Sydney sheep show, he was stricken with a severe illness, the effects of..which he was never able to shake off. His health, for some time, had not been good. Mr Little is survived by a widow, who was a daughter of the late Robert‘Rutherford, two sons and two daughters. The elder son has been associated with his father at Hui Hui, and the other children arc still at school. MR H. HE WITS ON, Mr Hamilton Hewitson, of Wetherstones, whose death took place suddenly last week, was 86 years of age. He was born in Donegal, Ireland, ■ and went to America as a young man to study agriculture. Not liking this work, he returned to Ireland, and started to learn the drapery trade. This also palled, and he returned to America, where he served for ■five years with the United States army, taking part in several skirmishes with the Red Indians. At the end of the five years Mr Hewitson abandoned his military career and came to New Zealand. He settled at Tuakepa West, where he remained for about 20 years, and then moved to Wctherstones. He was predeceased by his wife about seven years ago, and is survived by'a family of four turns and two daughters. 1 :