DEATH OF BISHOP HADFIELD.

Otago Witness, Issue 2649, 21 December 1904, Page 11

DEATH OF BISHOP HADFIELD.

A Press Association . telegram from Marton, published in' the New Zealand Times,- but which" was not sent to Dunedin, records^the death of the Right Rev. Bishop Hadfield, formerly Primate of New Zealand and Lord Bishop of Wellington. The deceased gentleman, who died on Sunday morning at the age of 91 years, was the-son of Joseph Hadfield, of Bouchwich, Isle of -Wight. He was born in 1815, and matriculated at Pembroke College, Oxford, in 1832, but' was obliged to leave tho •university on account of ill-health. He proceeded to Australia, and while in deacon's orders accompanied the Bishop (Broughton) of Australia to New Zealand in 1838 in H.M.S. Pelorus. Upon the application of Ruaparaha for a missionary to be sent to Otaki Mr Hadfield volunteered. He was accordingly admitted to priest's orders by the Bishop, and sailed with the> Rev. Henry Williams to Port Nicholson, where he laboured for many years. In 184-3, after the slaughter of Captain Wakefield and others by R&aparaha at Wairau, that chief roused his tribe to arms to prevent the enslaving of the Maori race, and but for the intervention of the Rev. Mr Hadfield and Te Rangitake the Ngatitoa would have descended upon the new settlement 'of Wellington. In 1859-60 the deceased gentleman protested against the treatment of Te Rangitake by the Government over the Waitara affair, and in 1860 he sent a petition, signed at Otaki by the Maoris, praying for the removal of Governor Browne on account of the seizure of Waitara. This he was accused of having inspired, but he was eble to show that it was spontaneous on the part of the Natives. The Rev. Mr Hadfield, who wal appointed by Bishop Selwyn as Archdeacon of Kapiti, remained at Otaki from 1839 till 1865. When the Hauhau fanaticism broke out, and Mr Volkner, the missionary, was murdered, Archdeacon Hadfield remained at his post at the imminent risk of his life, declaring that he was ready to lay his bones where he had laboured so long. The deceased gentleman was commissary to Bishop Selwyn for 10 years, and was subsequently commissary to Bishop Abraham, the first Bishop of Wellington. In October, 1870, upon the resignation of Bishop Abraham Archdeacon Hadfield was appointed to succeed him, the ceremony being 1 especially interesting in that it was the first occasion on which a bishop for a colonial see was consecrated without the royal mandate or license. In 1889, when Bishop Harper, of Christchurch, retired from the Primacy, Bishop Hadfield was elected to the position. There was some doubt as to the validity of the election, and Bishop Suter, o£ Nelson, was nominated by the dissentient party, but in. the, end the claims el Bkhon

Hadfield wore acknowledged, and he held the Primacy until October, 1893.

The quarterly meeting of the Tuapeka Licensing Committee takes place at Roxburgh on Thursday (says the Tuapeka Times), when the business to be brought before it- will consist of one application for a transfer. To deal with this the contributing bodies have to bear an expense qf over £20. Under the old Licensing Act it would have been possible to have allowed this application to stand in abeyance till the annual meeting, but under the new act the members of the committee must attend this sitting or lose their seats.

A meeting was held at Oamaru on Tuesday evening (says the North Otago Times) to discuss Mr H. B. Crawfrod's scheme for the erection of a theatre. Mr Crawford outlined his scheme, and stated that he thought the furnished theatre would cost £3500. After discussion Messrs A. Jones and A. Creagh were appointed to canvass the town thoroughly and ascertain the probabilities of support. The amount of the debentures was fixed at £10 each. It was pointed out that the debenture-holders would have the security of the section and the buildings thereon for their money, that the rate of interest, though not iarge, was pretty well assured, inasmuch as the capital was small, and the revenue, on. the whole, likely to be about £400, -from wheih after interest, rates, lighting, and other expenses were deducted should leave a fair margin for a sinking fund.