OBITUARY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2546, 31 December 1902, Page 25

OBITUARY.

Mr F. H. "Wilson, eldest son of the late Sir John Cracroffc Wilssn, C.8., died at his residence, Cashmere, Canterbury, on "Wednesday morning, as tho result of a stroke of paralysis. He was in his seventy-first year, and leaves a widow and ( three sons and two daughters. H© came to the colony in 1855, and took over the management of his father's estates in this province for a. short period. Previously he saw service in India with the 2nd Fusiliers, going to India in the same ship ■ as the present Lord Roberts. Hi 6 eldest sou, - -who is in England, at present, married the only daughter of Sir John Hall. I News li»3 been received of the death at Wright's Bush, Southland, of Mr Jam«s Ough- j ton, well known in the Taieri and in Dunedin. ! He was the son of two old settlers, David Wiletra Ought on and Jane Todd, who were married shortly after their arrival in the colony, and lesided at Janefield, Easi Taieri, until the death of Mrs Oughton. While quite a youth .Tames was injured by a fall, which resulted in j (permanent lameness. His father took him to ( the Old Country for expert advice, but without , anuch result. While in the Home Country his father married again, and after returning to the colony settled at North Taieri. When the father died the children of both marriages iwere taken to the Home Country, where they • -were educated. On James returning to the ■olony he took possession of Janefield, which •was left him by his father's will. He farmed it for several years, until he sold out to the Government about three years ago. He then ' •went south and took up a large tract of land it Wright's Bush, Southland. A few months ago his health failed, and he visited the Taieri district, but returned south in a somewhat critical condition. On Monday morring he suddenly succumbed at the comparatively early ' age of 45 years. He leaves a widow (daughter | of the late Mr G. Couper, East Taieri) and nine ' ■children — five boys and four girls. i A Palmerston North message says •— " The , death is announced of Joseph Gattsche, pro- | prietor of the Eagle Brewery, and for many | years a well-known resident of Hokitika, Mas- J ■ierton, and Paimerston. 1 ' i News was received on Wednesday of the death ■ at Melbourne of Mr Edward Meloy. who was • for about 30 years connected with the fiim of • Messrs A. and T. Burt, filling the position of > ■warehouse manageT with marked ability. ■ Owing to his health becoming impaired Mr Meloy, at the advice of his medical man, ' took a trip to the Home Country seven or eight ■months ago, accompanied by his niece, Mrs j Hay. After a brief stay in the Old Country ho j started on his Teturn journey to the colony, , and reached Melbourne about three weeks ago. | Becoming too ill to proceed further he remained j there, and died as stated above. Mr Meloy, j ■who was about 60 years of age, was widely known and much respected by everyone with ■whom he came in contact. Mr James Thomson, a very old resident of Otago, passed away at Glenpprk, near Palmerston, on Tuesday last. 'When quite a youth, •with other members of his family, he left Scot-Ja-ud .for Canada, where he remained till 1850, -when he migrated to Australia, and in 1860 came to Otago. Mr Thomson at the time of 3iis death was 84 years of age, and had long Tetired from business on a small competency. , For many years in older limes he was con- j neoted with mining and business on the golclnelds of Otago. He was always much esteemed lor his simple, kindly ways and strict integrity. ' He leaves no .relatives in New Zealand, but in Canada there is one surviving sistsr and several nephews and nieces. if REV. DR WILLIAM BANNERMAN Not only Presbyterians, but persons of all denominations, and non« more so than j the reeiden.s of the Clutha district, will ( hear with deepest regret of the dcaih of the Rev. Dr William Bannerman, which , occurred suddenly at Jiis residence in Reslyn on Wednesday morning. Dr Baunerrnan had been ailing for about 12 months, but he was ', able to be out i>nd about oci s-ionally. As a matter of fact, he was at Anderson's Bay on Saturday, and on Monday la=t was im ( town. On Tuesday night he appeared to be in good spirits, but early on Wednesday morning he took suddenly ill, and although medical aid was at once summoned, he died within half an hour, failure of the heart's action being the ultimate cause cf death. a trouble not unforeseen by his medical adviser The deceased gentleman, who was one of «ha fast three ministers of the Otairo Pres- .

byterian Church, was born in Kirkcaldy, I ITifeshire, on September 8, 1822, and was i accordingly in his .eighty-first year. His i birthplace was left in childhood for Edinj burgh, where he received his education, pass- | ing from the High School of that city to its ' university, £md thence to the Theological I College of the Free Church in Vie same I city. During his college cour.se he was ! largely engaged ia private tuition, and, j with one of his pupils, made a Continental | tour, visiting France, Switzerland, Italy, | Germany, amd Belgium. With the same ! pupil he visited the South of Ireland. Ho ! was licensd by the Free Church Presbytery of Edinburgh, and for a time was employed by the Home Mission Committee of his church -of the parish of Crathie, which includes within it the royal properties of Balmoral and Abergelclie. _ In a building belonging to the latter he conducted divine worship and a Sabbath school, laying the foundation of the present Free Church in ilia* parish. Leaving Cratlue, he did wcrk in Echt, near Aberdeen city, ard afterwards in the city of Perth. "While in the latter his attention was directed to Otago, resulting in the offer of his services to the Colonial Committea of the Free Church for the colony of Xew Zealand. His offer was readily accepted, and his appointment made accordingly. This having been communicated to the Presbytery of Perth, he was ordained a minii-tor of the Otas>o Church by that presbytery. September, 1F53, Dr Andrew Bonar presiding on the occa- : sion. as noted in his memoir. The Rev. Mr Bannerman sailed for Otago the following month in company with the Rev. "Wi ! Will. Arriving together, they dhided be- ] twesn them the settled districts lying south j of Dunedin, the more southern ones falling j to Mr Bannerman. These included Tokomairiro. Inchclutha. South Clutha, Warepa, and Kaihiku, all of which he had to under- J take on foot for 10 month', having been unable to pioeure a horse to aid him.. Gradually settlement extended further southward, requiring to be attended to. As early as the close of 1856 Mr Bannerman I used to make periodic visits as far as Inver- j cargill, and in years following as far as Riverton. These he continued till 1860, when Mr Stobo was settled in Invercargill, and took in charge the large territory lying ; south of the Mataura. Thus relieved, Mr j Bannerman turned his attention to Tapanui j and Catlins districts. since constituted sanctioned charges. Meanwhile, his own J original charge had become subdivided, bit by bit, by the settlement of the Rev. A. B. Todd in TokomaiTiro, the Rev. James Kirkland in Inchclutha, and the Rev. John Waters in Warepa amd Kaihiku, while Popotunoa, adjoining .the latter, had become a | charge under the Rev. O. Counor. Puerua | and Port Molyneux continued to be served by Mr Bannerman. In the former his mrmso had been erected in 1£57 on a beautiful site, ! surrounded by the bush, and beside a mountain stream. Here he continued to labour i till 1884, when he- met with a buggy aeci- i dent, which so lamed him as to necessitate his retirement from active- work, retaining, however, at the request of his congregation, | the position of its senior minister. On his resignation, the congregation presented him ( with a ■pursa of £120, smd the Church, at large with £500 and 'a silver salver suitably inscribed. Since his retirement he resided in Roslyn, occasionally taking pulpit work when it could be done -without much walking, and discharging the duties of clerk of synod, an office he has held since r^.e for- j mation of that body up to about nine months I ago. In 1876 he was devuted to represent the Church in the "Alliance of the Reformed Churches holding the Presbyterian System," at its meeting in Edinburgh. Twice he was deputy to the Gemeral Assemblies of the Victorian and New Zea- I land Churches. He held the convenership ' of the Synod's Mission Committee for many years, and in that capacity visited, with Mrs Bannerman, the New Hebrides, to the great satisfaction of the missionaries, their j wives, amd the Christian natives, so seldom j visited by outsiders. In church court dis» j eussions he always took a prominent part, i but never allowed difference of opinion to j mar the friendliness of private or public in- '• tercourse. j On one occasion, it is recorded in*" Fifty Years Syne " (the jubilee memorial of the Presbyterian Church of Otago and Southland, edited by the Rev. J. Chisholm), Dr Bannerman started to visit the southern part of his district, which extended as far as he could go. He did the journey there and back again on foot. His route lay a'ong the northern side of the Mataura by j Tuturau and Toi-Tois or Fortrose. After visiting the widely-scattered stations in these districts, he crossed the Mataura, a»d started for the Bluff. One part of the jour- | ney was waterless, and he suffered from , thirst. At length he came within sight of j a lagoon. He hurried up to it ; the water ' was beautifully clear. He threw down his j fwag, speedily untied his pannikin, dipped ' it into the water, and rais&d it eagerly to his lip« It was brackish. He reached the j Bluff, and found a lodging for the night | in an extemporised booth of rushes, under ! the lee of a house- in course of erection. J From the Bluff he got, partly by walking and partly by boating, to where Inverrar- I gill now stands. Tho surveyors v pro bu c y laying off the future capit.il of .Southland. After visiting the people in tbo neighbourhood, he started on his journey home. He> was accompanied by Mr Logic, at one time Collector of Customs in Dunee 3 !!} It began to rain hca\ il} , and they got soaked. There ' was no distinct track ; they held too much I in the direction of the HcAcnuis. and night began to gather round them while they 1 were still a long way from v.h.-ie they ex- j p^cted to strike the Mataura. They le- . solved to bait for tho night, 'ihey were illprovided for such a bhouac; everything was dripping, and no fire could be kindled. Mr Logic's waterproof was spread on the ground, ?nd Ins blanket vas reserved for a covering; while Mr BauncrmanS plaid, stretched on two upright st'tk-, was sipposed to do duty as a kind of tciit. Them trey lay and tried to s leep. In the grey ' dawn Mr Bannrrman got up, but wa= hardly able- to move his liniL; — they were c o =liff with the rain and cold. He fcund a few j dry matches in the bottom rf the box. and i managed to light lis pipe. Then lie -tartcd j to walk, and soon his limbs attained their j normal suppleness, a glow of heat returned to his chilled body, and ho felt fairly fit for the day's journey. Mr Logic was much worse than he, and needed help to regain an uj)right po-ition. They reached the j banks of the Mataura about 7 o'clock, but the Maori feiryman was- still asleep, and no j intensity of eoc-peing could rouse him They hung about, like shivering &ouls on the bauk-> of the Styx, waiting for grim Charon to frriy thorn atioss tl.e bi idecle^-- rnc-r that flowed betveen them and the Elysium of home. They lodged the next night at Otarja. ia a rcccntlj -rectcd hut, and en-

. joyed tho luxury of billy tea with the scanty ' residue of the- provisions they had laid in 'at Invercargill. The difficulty next day was I to strike the mouth of the Popotunoa Gorge. Unless they did this they might wander in vain over the broken and trackless country ! that lay before them. A traveller had misled that pass through the rugged hills, and trudged about for several days among the rank ferns and tussocks, in deep gullies, and on steep hillsides. He was able to keep | himself alive by snaring a lamb and drinkj ing its warm blood. They were more fortuI nate ; they got through t.he gorge, and ere long they reached the manse which was then at Warepa. It was but a clay whare, but for Sir Bannerman it -was a home, and its j gentle ministries were thrice welcome after the toilsome journey. Mr Logic slept on, but Mr Bannerman had to be out in the morning to catch his horse. It was the SabI bath, and he had galloped to Clutha, held i service there, and was back again for seri vice at Warepa ere his fellow-traveHer had ' facd the ordeal of getting up and trying ' to use his aching- limbs. j In character, Dr Bannerman was a typical ; representative of the old school of Scotch j Presbyterian ministers. He bad a Thorough j ' grasp of church practice and regulations, and onr readers will well recall the many ] ■ heated debates, in which he has taken part i in synod, ever holding out for the observance of constitutional practice and procedure-. He was a °ood fighter, generous in ' , victory and graceful in defeat, being ahvaya | I act'iatod by . conscientious motive* when in. opposition to the fathers and brethren in the ! church courts. He was revered in the j i Church, and the great services he rendered j during the 30 years of his ministry — from ! 1854 — in building up and extending Presby- > I tcrianism in Otago will ever bo held in j grateful remembrance, and be a monument , I to the great and untiring labours of a ! pioneor as man and minister. ; About two years ago the deceased's alma , mater, Edinburgh University, conferred on ! I him the D.D. decree in recognition of his | ! long and valuable services in this colony. When the news cf tho cor ferment was re- j [ ceived here Dr Bannerman was the recipient j of hearty congratulations, not only from lm brother ministers, but from ministers and , laymen all over the colony. I Mrs Bannerman, a daughter of the late j Dr Burns (the Aaron of the Otago settle- ! rrev.t), came out with her father in 184-8, | I and is supported ""in her bereavement by t i four daughters and two sons — viz.. Mrs John j Begg fof Hille-nd), Mrs Spencer Richards (of Dunedink Mrs J. A. Somerville (of Waitepeka), Miss Agnes Bannerman, Mr William Bannei-man (in the Dunedin office of the Bank of New Zealand*, and the Rev. Burns Bannerman (a Presbyterian minister in Tas- ! mania). One of the deceased gentleman s J 1 listers, Mrs James Craig, arrived with her , husband from Scotland ahnut three weeks I ago. Mr and Mrs Craig had intended to \ I first go and see their sons in the North J Island, but happily they changed their I plans, and came to Dunediu to visit Dr j j Bannerman. The funeral of the late Rev. Dr William Bannerman took place on Saturday afternoon, and was very largely attended, old identities being present in force to show a la-st mark of respect to the memory of the veteran minister. The service at the late residence of deceased, in Roslyn, was conducted by the Rev. R. R. M. Sutherland, who also at the graveside, in the Southern Cemetery, read a portion of Scripture, whilst the Rev. A. M. Finlayson led the mourners in prayer. The ministers of the Clutha Presbytery wera represented in the cortege by the Rev. P B. Fraser. whilst of the Dunedin Presbytery the following ministers were preeent: — Revs. W. Will, A. Cameron, J. Chisholm, Dr Nicolson, R. R. M. Sutherland, A. M. Finlayson. J. M'Kerrow, W. Scorgie, R. Mackie, Dr Watt, I. K. M'lntyre, A. Christie, and A. Greig. There was a considerable muster of Clutha residents, among whom were Mr J. W. Thomson, M.H.R., Mr M'Neil, brother-in-law of the deceased.