MR GEORGE DEWE

Southland Times, Issue 23182, 24 April 1937, Page 8

MR GEORGE DEWE

EARLY RESIDENT OF CITY VISIT TO INVERCARGILL Mr George Dewe, of Edmonton, Canada, and formerly of Invercargill and Christchurch, arrived in Invercargill yesterday on a holiday visit. It is 64 years since Mr Dewe first set foot in Invercargill. He arrived from England in 1873, and spent his childhood and received his early education in Invercargill. In 1881 Mr Dewe moved to Christchurch, and 24 years ago he left New Zealand for Canada, where he has since resided. The Dewe family was well known in the early days of Invercargill, but Mr George Dewe is best known to Southlanders for his interest in amateur sport and by his articles on sport reproduced during the past 20 years in The Southland Times. Cricket, Rugby football and basketball have claimed his biggest interests. During his stay in Canada he has played a prominent part in the establishment of both cricket and Rugby football in Western Canada, and at the age of 67—he is now 75—he was still playing cricket. The outstanding successes of the world-

famous women’s basketball combination, the Edmonton Commercial “Grads,” gave Mr Dewe plenty of scope for his enthusiasm, and for the past 12 years or more he has been a consistent advocate for the game of basketball. The career of the “Grads, ’ the present world champions, has been told to readers of The Southland Times in Mr Dewe’s articles, and principally through his efforts the Canadian team has been invited to visit New Zealand in the near future. During his visit to Invercargill Mr Dewe hopes to renew old friendships. He has brought with him a set of lantern slides of Canada’s scenic beauties and it is probable that he will address schools and those interested in tourist publicity. Although 75 years of age, Mr Dewe is an active man, and it will come as a surprise to his friends in Southland to learn that shortly after his arrival yesterday he was admitted to the Southland hospital for treatment for a minor illness. „ “I had to come ‘home’ to be nursed, he said cheerfully to The Southland Times, “but I hope to be well again in a few days?’