OBITUARY.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2763, 18 April 1900, Page 4

OBITUARY.

There died at Oamaru on Friday last-, Mr Neil Fleming, a gentleman who was intimately connected with the very early days of South Canterbury and North Otago. The North Otago Times contained a lengthy obituary notice, from.which we take the following extract“ Mr ;;Neil Fleming was a colonist of about 36 years, and leaves an untarnished record as a legacy to those who mourn his death, and the sympathy of the com- ■ * ■ munity goes out to them in their great i . and irreparable loss. In the good old ' days Messrs Fleming and Hedley were conspicuous for their enterprise. They • possessed at one time the finest draught • stud in the Australasian colonies, and a great herd of Ayrshire cattle, and the Incholme Estate was famous for the stock reared there. No man in the colony was a better judge of a draught horse or an Ayrshire cow than the late Mr Fleming. The firm held large interests in land at one time —the estates of Incholme, Seadown, and Eskbank were associated with their names, but in the order of things these long ago passed into a larger number of hands. The firm of Fleming and Hedley has been a household word in the South Island, and with the regrettable death of the senior partner the inevitable dissolution has taken place, and there has been laid aside one of the best known and most prominent landmarks of the place. Mr Fieming’s footsteps will leave an indelible Impression, and in expressing regret for his death we share with the whole community the burden of a loss that will be widely felt and sincerely deplored. The late Mr Fleming was born in Oampbelton, Scotland, in 1840, and arrived in the colony in 1864. Haying been trained in the teaching profession, his services on landing were requisitioned by the late Dr Hislop, and in Mr Halliwell’s York Place School, Mr Fleming first assumed the duties of a teacher in the colony. On leaving Cromwell in 1866, Mr Fleming came to Uamaru as headmaster of the Oamaru district school. He held the position for two years, and on the Ist August, 1868, he entered into partnership with Mr Allan Hedley, and that partnership has existed for the 32 years since. Previous to this Mr Fleming had, with Mr Jas. Bruce, who built the big mill at Timaru, made a profitable speculation in purchasing the hull of the wrecked ship Star of Tasmania. Out of this venture a considerable sum was made. This was the transition from the school to the more attractive field of commercial enterprise.”