OBITUARY.

Otaki Mail, 22 December 1933, Page 4

OBITUARY.

MR D. G. RIDDIFORD. ■Sportsmen all over New Zealand will regret to liqar of the death of Mr D. G. Riddiford, which took place at his 1 residence, “View Marton. oa Sunday afternoon. Deceased was born in the Dominion in 1859. Ho went i at an early age to England, where lie began his education at Uppingham. When he was 20 he returned to New Zealand and put in four years 011 Ills father’s station at Wairarapa. His father was a Yorkshireman, and the son quickly followed the latter’s footsteps in an unbounded love for horses and hounds. Soon after his arrival in Rangitikci Mr Riddiford interested himself in the Rangitikci Hunt Club, which was formed in 1882, when the late Sir James, (then Mr) Wilson purchased and donated a pack of hounds to the club. The late Mr W. Hammond was at this time associated with Mr Riddiford as master of hounds till 1885, when the latter assumed sole charge, a position which he had filled with distinction for nearly half a century. As a horseman he had few peers, and even when lie hail turned the seventy scale, he was a regular competitor in tho Rangitikci point-to-point steeplechase. Hq was also a very keen and ablcjpolp. player, having captained the Rangit-ikei teams when the latter won the SayjHe cup in 1894. For some years Mr was president of the New Zealand Hunt Club Association. As an owner of weight-carrying horses Mr Riddiford enjoyed an almost Domin-ion-wijg reputation, for he was successful at the leading agricultural showin Haw,ke’s Bay, Wairarapa, Manawatu and Wanganui. “Taffy,” Mr Riddiford’s favourite grey hunter, was perhaps the best known of all his horses. In 1904 Mr Riddiford purchased a stud hound from England and built up what is regarded as one of the finest packs in New Zealand.

The late Mr Riddiford retired from active farming in 1894, when he sold the land property to Messrs Deighton and Purnell. Mrs Riddiford, who was a regular attender. at the hounds for close on forty years, was an exceptional horsewoman, and like her husband, followed the chase till she died some six years. ago. There are two children—Mr Rou Riddiford (Masterton) and Mrs Ratkin (Worcestershire).