DEATH OF A PIONEER.

Otago Witness, Issue 3036, 22 May 1912, Page 36

DEATH OF A PIONEER.

MR T. G. WILLIAMS. WELLINGTON," May 20. Mr T. C. Williams met with an accident about a month ago, and was confined to his bed. Failing health and his advanced age (86 years) prevented recovery from the (shock, and he gradually sank, and passed away early on Sunday morning.

(Fkou Ock Own Cokr-kspondent.) WELLINGTON, May 20. The late Mr Williams was a remarkable man in many ways. He was 86 years of age, and had never been out of New Zealand. He must have been about the oldest New Zealand-born settler living who had never been away from his native land. He was a son of the Rev. Henry Williams, a missionary, whose name is well known throughout New Zealand, and even further afield. Mr Williams's father was at one-time an officer in the Royal Navy, and held the rank of lieutenant on H.M.S. Shannon, under Captain Broke, when she challenged and defeated the American frigate Chesapeake (Captain Lawrence) on June 1, 1813, in Boston Bay. The Chesapeake struck about 15 minutes after the fight began, and the ship was towed to Halifax by the British ship. The Rev. Mr Williams eventually became archdeacon of Waimate, and it was he who translated the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840. His son who has just died was a notable figure in Wellington for many years. He was a huge man, with a magnificent haad, usually surmounted by a white belltopper, and he would be remarked anywhere in a crowd. I have before me now his famous let> ter to the Right Hon. W. Gladstone, being an appeal on behalf of the Neatiraukawa tribe, which he published as a volume of over 160 pages in Wellington in 1873. It is now a rare and somewhat valuable book. It is a long story how the late Mr Williams, single-handed, and at his- own expense, fought the case of these Maoris. Some of his arguments are couched in burning periods that one day may attract the attention of the New Zealand historian, and that show his sense of honour. Here, for instance, is one :— *' My case is this : a people when savages and independent were merciful to the prostrate. They a.re afterwards led to embrace Christianity and to subject themselves .to the dominion of a Christian Queen. Their having been merciful when savages was the cause of their ruin under the Christians' rule! My case is one of unscrupulous Anglo-Saxon greed and oppression triumphant over peaceable Maori submission," ~ It was not till 1865 that the late Mr Williams come south to Wellington. He took up the Branoepeth land in the Wai. rarapa, the Annedale station on the East Coast, and the station, near Masterton. Messrs W. and H. H. Beetltam were his partners in these ventures. It is stated that he never bothered to keep any books about his transactions or his business, and years after a firm of accountants had to spend much time in settling up matters in connection with the partnership. Litigation, however, was quite unnecessary, because all the partners were honourable men. In 1858 Mr Williams married a daughter of the late Mr Wm. Beetham, by whom he had 13 children —six sons and seven daughters. Most of the family are now married. ,Some of the daughters displayed great talent in art and music. By his demote New Zealand loses a pioneer settler whose life history would make several most interesting volumes.