OBITUARY

Southland Times, Issue 22813, 12 February 1936, Page 4

OBITUARY

MR F. J. PANKHURST FARMER AND SPORTSMAN The death occurred on Monday of Mr Frederick James Pankhurst, formerly a well-known farmer in the Western District and a keen racing man. He was 76 years of age. Mr Pankhurst wa- born in Riverton, where he received part of his education. He also attended primary school in Queenstown. For 14 years he conducted a livery stable at Riverton and later took up farming at Otaitai Bush. After eleven years, in which he gained recognition as a successful agriculturalist, he gave up his farm to come to Invercargill, where he resided up till the time of his death. An ardent follower of all outdoor pastimes, Mr Pankhurst was best known as a follower of racing. He was an amateur trainer, owner and, in his younger days, a rider. Mr Pankhurst was also a member of the Invercargill Trotting Club. Chief among the other sporting activities which claimed his interest were Rugby football and rowing, in both of which he achieved success as a young man. He is survived by his wife, formerly Miss Jessie Henderson, and a family of five sons, Mr James W. Pankhurst (Orari), Mr John C. Pankhurst (Woodlands), Messrs Douglas V. and Thomas E. Pankhurst (Invercargill) and Mr Gordon W. Pankhurst (Orari), and two daughters, Miss Mary C. Pankhurst (Invercargill) and Mrs J. Tait (Bluff). One son, Maurice, was killed in the Great War. MR F. J. ALLEY. The death occurred last week of Mr Frederick James Alley at his home, Westcote, Russley road, Christchurch. Mr Alley was well known as a schoolmaster throughout Canterbury, and had charge of the Wharenui School from its foundation in 1907 until his retirement from the profession in 1922. Mr Alley was bom at Styx in 1866, his parents having come out from Ireland a few .years before. He entered the Normal School when he was 15 years old, and afterwards completed his education at Canterbury University College, where he was a memoer of the first fifteen. When he was at Canterbury College he studied teaching under Professor - J. Macmillan Brown. Mr Alley had charge of several schools in Canterbury, being a master at Charteris Bay, Irwell, Springfield, Amberley, and finally at Wharenui. He had a distinguished record with his scholarship pupils from these schools. After his retirement from teaching he became interested in farming, and owned interests in farms in Southland and Upper Riccarton. Land problems occupied a great deal of his attention and he was a frequent contributor to the correspondence columns of the Press on this subject. He had a keen interest in district affairs, although he did not hold positions on any local bodies. As a master he paid great attention to the athletic side of school life, although he did not take an active part in sports. COMMISSIONER C. JEFFRIES. SALVATION ARMY OFFICER. The death occurred last week of Commissioner Charles Jeffries, of the Salvation Army. Previously British Commissioner, he was on his way to New Zealand to conduct the Salvation Army congress as his last commission before retirement when his death occurred in the United States. Commissioner Jeffries, who was the General’s representative to the Territorial Congress, had, while in command of the British territory, the oversight of the Salvation Army’s evangelical work throughout the British Isles, having under his jurisdiction 3280 officers and 1600 centres of work. Up to the time of his appointment as British Commissioner, Commissioner Jeffries was for nine years principal of the Army’s International Training College, where prospective officers receive an intensive course of training in all branches of Salvation Army work prior to being commissioned as officers. The Commissioner had been a Salvation Army officer for over fifty years. His introduction to the Army was unique. In the early beginnings of the organization in Whitechapel, ridicule and persecution greeted its advent, and a “Skeleton Army” was formed to hinder and oppose the Salvation Army in its outdoor work. Commissioner Jeffries was the captain of the “Skeleton Army.” As such, his hostility to the Salvation Army was strenuous and unrelenting. In some manner, however he was attracted to the people whose meetings he had continually broken up. and was eventually won to their cause. The news spread around Whitechapel, and soon a large number of the “Skeleton Army” which l.e led became Salvationists.

Early in his Salvation Army career Commissioner Jeffries was sent to Australia, where he figured among the pioneer party of officers who “opened fire” in that land; the Commissioner was for some time secretary for social work, and in that capacity inaugurated important work for the Government in assisting neglected children. It was William Booth’s dying wish that something should be done for China, and Commissioner Jeffries was chosen as the pioneer Commissioner of the Salvation Army’s work in North China. In addition to various important appointments in the British territory, including a short period as Territorial Commander for Scotland, the Commissioner undertook special missions to Canada, Scandinavia and the Continent. Commissioner Jeffries was to have opened his New Zealand tour at Invercargill on March 28, concluding it at Auckland on May 4.