OBITUARY.

Pahiatua Herald, Volume XV, Issue 3923, 3 May 1911, Page 3

OBITUARY.

MR E. J. RIDDIFORD. The death occurred yesterday at his residence at Longburn, of Mr Edward Joshua Riddiford, one of the oldest and best-known settlers in the Wellington Province. The late Mir Riddiford had been ailing fax - some Riddiford, reports the Palmerston Times, had been ailing for some months, but at the end of last week was so much better that his end coming so suddenly yesterday was a shock to his relatives. Death was due to heart failure, and was no doubt largely due to the shock caused by the sudden death of a favourite grand-nephew, Mr Basil Pratt, which occurred early yesterday morning.

The late Mr E. J. Riddiford was the son of the late Daniel Riddiford, who arrived in Wellington by the ship “Adelaide,” one of the first three vessels to arrive on these shores, in 1839, bringing with him, in sections, the first house that was erected at Pipitea Point, Wellington. . Mr E. J. Riddiford was the first child born at the Lower Hutt, in 1842, and was the first child baptised by Bishop Sedwyn in New Zealand. He Was educated primarily in Wellington, and secondarily at the Scotch College in Melbourne. He spent his life in farming pursuits, and at the time of his death owned many thousands of acres in various parts of the North Island, including the Te Awaite estate, celebrated for the splendid red deer. This estate which is on the East Coast beyond Cape Palliser, comprises between 55,000 and 60,000 acres. His other estates include the Orongaronga estate (640 acres freehold and 7000 leasehold), his fine pi - operty dt Longburn, the Cheltenham estate, the beautiful Kawakawa native bush near Feilding, and 272 acres at Lower Hutt, on ten acres of which his fine residence is located.

In the early days he took his share in defending the Hutt settlement, acting as lieutenant in the Militia under the late Colonel Gordon. He was for some years a member of the Wairarapa County Council.

The late Mr Riddiford was married in 1879 to a daughter of the late Mr Henry Bunny (for many years a member of the House of Representatives). He leaves a widow and grown, up family of three sons (one son predeceased him) and three daughters. The surviving sons are Messrs Vivian, Daniel and Eric Riddiford, and of his daughters two are unmarried and reside at the Hutt, and the other (Mrs Lindsay) resides in India. The funeral will be from his late residence at the Hutt on Friday next. MR BASIL FORSTER-PRATT. Mr Basil Forster-Pratt, second son of Mr and Mrs J. R. Forster-Pratt, of Palmerston North passed awav at a private hospital at about 8 o’clock yesterday morning. Deceased first complained of feeling unwell on Wednesday last, and on Friday he was operated on for appendicitis. The case was serious from the first, and though he rallied somewhat on Monday morning his condition became critical on the evening of that day, and he finally succumbed yesterday morning.