DEATH OF A WANAKA PIONEER.

Otago Witness, Issue 3613, 12 June 1923, Page 64

DEATH OF A WANAKA PIONEER.

An adventurous and interesting career closed when Alfred Herman Finn, a colonist of 70 years, passed away suddenly, at the age of 94 years, at his country residence, “Quinvale,” Drummond North, Malmsbury, Victoria, on the 20th of May. The only son of a master mariner, who was killed on H.M.S. Tiger, at Odessa; a native of Devon, England, and one of a race of longevity, whose pedigree dates back to the French Comte de i'yn. Mr Finn retained his faculties right v- to the last and took pleasure in recounting his experiences in the early fifties, when the lure of the gold led him to Victoria and New Zealand. Arriving in Victoria in 1853, he was soon familiar with diggings at Buninyong and Ballarat (and took part in the Eureka Stockade trouble). Derim Lead, Bullarook, Steiglitz, Black Creek, Daisy Hill, and Lamplow were mining centres where his interests lay until he took passage to New Zealand in 1862 on the French barque St. Jane. On the voyage down the master and most of the crew fell ill with scurvy and fever, and Mr Pinn navigated the vessel safely t-o Port Chalmers. His next move was to W eatherstones Diggings, then on to Hartley and Riley’s rush, the Nokamai, the Crhotover and the Cardrona. Somewhere about 1863 he opened the Luggate Creek diggings, and from there he went to the Makarora sawing and rafting timber down Lake Wanaka. He held one of the first, if not the first, miner’s right that was issued in Victoria, and carried it about in his pocket book for some years until it was lost while he was rescuing a Mr Marshall, who was fording the Makarora River and got bevond his depth. At this time he was building boats for Mr Hill, contractor, arid sawing and rafting timber for the Roaring Mag and Gentle Annie and Cromwell Bridges. He next niov ed on to Hokitika and joined partnership with a boatbuilder named William Kennedy. Later, George Yeldham joined the partnership. George Yeldham died in ISOB or 1909 at the Home of Peace, Perth, West Australia. At Greymouth a party consisting of Messrs David Mitchell, George Yeldham, William Waterson and Theodore Russell joined up partnership with Mr Pinn and went prospecting at Parkes. Three of the partners came across to Lake Wanaka, and Mr Pinn here took a contract from Henry Campbell to supply Wanaka Station with sawn and round timber. The contract completed, thev dissolved partnership. Mr Finn then took a of Pigeon Island, and commenced building the schooners Nun, Eureka and Isabella, which he afterwards had trading on the Lake Wanaka. In 1870 he launched the Eureka, and after trading on the lake with her for a. short time lie took Geo-rge Hassing into partnership and later vv il.iani Hellieott, and traded as Finn Hassing and Company The Nun was launched in 1872, and' in 1876 was sold to Messrs Jos. Miller and Geo. Burrows Some years were spent in the boatbin ding trade after this until the lure of gold again took him to Criffel, Clyde, and Koxburgn, where lie remained until 1897 when he left New Zealand to join his family, who had gone across to West Austraha a short while before. He resided in different parts of that State until 1920 when he left to go to Sydney, and for the ast 18 months has been a resident in the place where he spent his first years m Australia. Mr Pinn served his time as a youth at the Plymouth Dockyards' in shinbuilding. 1„ 1875. at Pembroke lie married Miss Elizabeth Power and their family consisted of eight. He ‘leaves a wile, two sons, and two daughters and two grandsons to mourn him. One of his daughters (now Mrs S. J. Watson) a ciever journalist, will be remembered br tho early generation of Dot’s Little Polkas Daisy Primrose.” Afterwards she contributed occasionally (o the Otago Witness while engaged in journalistic work in Perth, W.A.