SIR GEORGE FENWICK.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20831, 25 September 1929, Page 10

SIR GEORGE FENWICK.

IMPRESSIVE BURIAL SERVICE MANY EXPRESSIONS OF SYMPATHY. Amidst a wealth of the spring flowers that he loved so well and knew so intimately, and with the henison of brilliant and kindly sunshine, all that was mortal of the late Sir George .Fenwick was laid to rest yesterday morning. The desire was for a quiet burial, devoid of pomp and circumstance, and of the public tribute that so many would willingly have paid at the passing of a personality of such native worth. Relatives and intimate personal friends, together with a large number of the employees of the Otago Daily Times and Witness Company, as well as’ representative citizens, were in attendance, and many others were present at St. J?aul’s Cathedral and at the graveside at the Southern Cemetery. The Rev. Canon Nevill read the burial, service at the graveside, and, assisted by the Rev. W. Hardy Johnson, vicar of All Saints’ Church, conducted the service at the cathedral, where Mr E. Heywood played the “Dead March” from “Saul.' The following minute was submitted by the Mayor (Mr R. S. Black) to the annual meeting of the Otago branch of the Navy League yesterday afternoon:— “ We feel compelled by our love towards the late Sir George Fenwick to pay a small tribute to his memory. His loving sympathy was the outstanding feature of his life, and guided his energy and zeal in all things that were for the uplift or humanity. He was a valuable member of the Navy League, and realised the won derful asset to the world of the White Ensign floating over modern battleships whose mission was not war, but the prevention of war. A life full of good deeds done unostentatiously is a fitting epitaph to his memory. To Laijy Fenwick and her family we express our deepest sympathy, and pray God to uphold them in their deep distress.” ; The minute was adopted, those present standing in silence., At the meeting of the Technical College managers the chairman, Mr D. Scott, referring in terms of deep regret to the death of Sir George Fenwick, moved—- “ That this board place on record the high appreciation of the long and distinguished career of the late. Sir George Fenwick, and its deep sense of the loss Otago has suffered in his death.” The motion was carried, members standing in silence for a few moments. It was further resolved that a letter of sympathy be forwarded to the relatives. Kindly reference was made by the chairman and several members- at the meeting of the Dunedin Stock Exchange yestferday morning to the memory of Sir George Fenwick, and members stood in silence as a mark of respect. . Mr C. H. Hewlett, ■ of Christchurch, a director of New Zealand Newspapers, Ltd., motored to Dunedin on Monday night to attend the funeral of Sir George Fenwick. The Christchurch Press Company was also represented at the funeral. Sir Mark Sheldon cabled yesterday from Sydney:, “Please extend to Sir George Fenwick’s relations and associates ouresympathy. We know that all New Zealand and his many friends in Australia, will join in their sympathy in the passing away of such a ..worthy and outstanding personality.” The manager of the N.Z. Tablet Company writes: “The directors of the N.Z. Tablet Company desire to extend to you their sympathy in the loss you have sustained through the death of. Sir George Fenwick, The late gentleman was, esteemed by them all not only in connection with our business relations but as a worthy citizen. His death is much lamented. Still there is the consolation that he was amongst the foremost who helped to; make -our city arid province what it is.” Messages'of condolence were received yesterday , from many other firms, organisations, and individuals, including the Australian section of the Empire Press Union, the Auckland Master Printers’ Association, Messrs E. Lufft and Son (Sydney), Messrs de Schryver, Ltd. (Auckland), Messrs Storer, Meek, and Co. (Wellington), Messrs E. Howes and Co. (Wellington), Messrs Neill, Cropper, and Co. (Auckland), Mr F. Jeffery (Roxburgh), and Mr J. D. ’ Mitchell (Wellington).. PRESS TRIBUTES. Though it was in connection with- the newspaper press of the Dominion that he was best known, the late Sir, George Fenwick was a citizen of the Dominion and truly a New Zealand figure A man of high ideals, every society or association which had for its object the welfare of his fellow, human beings, especially those overtaken by misfortune, made an instant appeal to his heart and conscience, and he never failed to answer the call. His life, indeed, was one of work and service, and his death removes from the city of Dunedin one of its best as well as one of its oldest citizens. It is Dunedin’s great good fortune to possess a notable group of “ grand old men,” and Sir George Fenwick was one of them. The loss is New Zealand’s also, for his was a Dominion personality. He was a pioneer of the best type—upright, energetic, courageous, able, and modest. His disciplined and industrious life'blight well serve as a model for the young man. of ~to-day, and he passes to his rest as full of honour as of years,—Southland Times. The death of Sir George Fenwick removes the doyen of the New Zealand press, and a man identified with every useful activity in Dunedin, Philanthropist and public man, unchallenged director of an important newspaper concern for nearly CO years, art collector humanitarian, lover of flowers and everything beautiful, his enthusiasm spread over a greater field probably than any man in the Dominion. The policy he laid down for the Otago Daily Times was i uncompromisingly partisan but his friendships were universal. He was in newspaper matters something of an autocrat—at all events, the decision usually went his way—but he was always the polished gentleman, and accepted his victories with becoming modesty. A city which has had the benefit of his advice, his energy and enthusiasm for an ordinary lifetime will suffer severely, because men of Sir George’s calibre are something more than rare—they are unique. The governing bodies of the newspaper world will feel strange without one who has been their oracle since their inception. —Southland News. If New Zealand journalists praise their own press they lay themselves open to charges of prejudice and vanity; but fortunately they can cite the opinions of disinterested outsiders. We recall such opinions to-day, because one of the chief builders of the New Zealand press is dead. Sir George Fenwick’s was a well-known name to New Zealanders, but only the men in the newspaper world knew the real value to the public of what he and his contemporaries did in improving the news services of New Zealand, and adding steadily, to the size and quality of the country’s newspapers. The average man knows little of the

vast organisation that stretches from the newspaper he is reading to the ends of/the world. He takes much as a matter of course a service that gives him daily for_ twopence the results of a test match in Australia, a debate, in the House of Commons the previous day, the latest wheat quotations from Chicago, the progress of an aviator voyaging between two continents, and all the news of his own country. He is far more prone to grumble at 'the mistakes than to be grateful for the accuracy, good measure, and variety. ‘ To-day his attention may be drawn to the debt that he owes to a pioneering journalist like Sir George Fenwick, who helped to found the New Zealand Press Association, and as editor and manager and managing director during many years was largely responsible for the success of the Otago Daily Times, a newspaper that has upheld the best traditions of journalism.. But while Sir George’s long and honourable connection with journalism was his chief interest, it was only one xif many. The list of his other activities is astonishingly long and varied, and illustrates the saying that it is only, the busy man who has time. To such men, hard working, able, shrewd, public-spirited, with interests beyond the making of money, Dunedin owes a great deal, and the Dominion is indebted to her for having produced or developed them.—Auckland Star. Sir George Fenwick was virtually the last of the band of great journalists that gave the New Zealand press its high standards of conduct, its fine tone, its tradition of firm devotion- to Imperial ideals, its intense patriotism and its freedom from evjl influence and from sordid control. They insisted that the only consideration that should weigh with an editor was the public welfare. They had inherited the tradition that the editorial and commercial sides of -a newspaper were essentially separate, and it is to them that the press owes its unvary ing rule of editorial independence. To them the “ policy of the paper ” was sacred, never to be subjected to external interference or commercial dictation.. Sir George himself was a man of high ideals, broad culture, and intensely human sympathies.—Christchurch Times. Though death is never a surprise when it comes to a man over eighty years of age, Sir George Fenwick played such a prominent part in the Dominion’s history, and was so closely and continuously associated with the progress of the South Island, that it will not be easy to think of Otago without him. Nor will it be good for us to forget the lesson of his long life and of his great successes. Able •though he always was and shrewd, it was hard work, doggedness, and patience that brought him his triumphs, and made him so many years age one of uhe Dominion’s outstanding citizens. ... He moved from pre-eminence in one office to pre-eminence in the journalism of the whole Dominion largely because nothing was ever too much trouble for him, and because bp was never content this year with the advances that had been made last year.or the year before. To the very end of his long life he was progressive, vigilant, farseeing, and endlessly industrious, and we are speaking of him in his capacity as a newspaper director only. His public work was recognised, and widely appreciated and praised, when the honour of knighthood was conferred on him, but it is as a journalist that be will be chiefly remembered, and it is his services to journalism that it is most appropriate for his contemporaries to remember and ponder over.—Christchurch Press. As a capable and trusted leader in the profession to which he devoted his lifelong activities, the late Sir George Fenwick played a ,leading part in the‘formation of the various organisations associated with the newspaper world of this country. So much so that when the royal honour of Knighthood was conferred on him by the Kjng, it was felt that New Zealand journalism had been signally honoured. As a citizen and as a man. Sir George Fenwick earned the esteem and confidence of Lis. fellow cjtizens, and as a journalist he so endeared himself to the whole fraternity of New Zealand journalists that he was most affectionately esteemed. Throughout New Zealand, although the passing of Sir George Fenwick will be mourned V/ all sections /of the community, in no sphere of life’s' activities will his lofty idealism and warm-hearted interest be more sadly missed than among the ranks of those who knew him most intimately and affectionately—the newspaper men of New Zealand.—Timaru Herald.

“ The career of 1 Sir George Fenwick calls to mind the difficulties encountered by many of the men who helped to lay firm and sure the foundations of New Zealand’s reputation. ... He deserved well of his country for many works of humanity and enterprise.. His judgment helped to make Dunedin the solid city it is to-day. He , was keenly interested in all 'measures for raising the standard of newspaper production. By precept and example he set the standard in newspaper ethics. He recognised that efficiency meant power, but power imposed responsibility —the responsibility of using that power conscientiously for the public good. In a word, he held firmly and proved in his own practice that a newspaper could attain to greatness only in so far as it had a great aim.”—Evening Post.