OBITUARY

Southland Times, Issue 23406, 13 January 1938, Page 6

OBITUARY

MR GEORGE PONT

The death has occurred of Mr George Pont, of Colac Bay, at the age of 94. He was one of the oldest residents of the Western District. . Born at New Brighton, England, in 1844, Mr Pont spent some years at sea before coming to New Zealand. He was married in 1865 to Eliza Adelaide Green and when they sailed for the Dominion in 1872 they brought with them a daughter aged six and two sons aged four and two respectively. The family settled in Dunedin, where Mr Pont was employed on railway works. About 1878, Mr Pont shifted to Wyndham where, with a horse and dray, he carried on a carting business. From Wyndham he went to The Narrows, Riverton, where he engaged . m saw milling for a time before he joined a gold rush to Printz’s quartz reef in the Longwoods. . After unsuccessfully prospecting for gold, the Pont family moved to Orepuki. There Mr Pont continued his carting business and it was by his efforts that the first piano was brought to Orepuki after a rough passage through the surf to Monkey Island, whence Mr Pont delivered it to a Mr Fitzgerald, of Orepuki. From Orepuki, Mr Pont moved to Pahia, where he worked on a farm, and from Pahia he went to Wakapatu as host of the Wayside Inn. Later, he went to Colac Bay, where he became a fisherman and also carried mail between Colac and Centre Island. He remained at Colac Bay until the time of his death.

Mr Font’s surviving children are:— Mesdames Nicholson (Wellington), McEwan (Napier), Stimpson (Gisborne), Moncur (Kennington), Messrs James Pont (Colac Bay), John (Tuatapere),. Dennis (Waikiwi), George (Invercargill), Charles (Grey Lynn), Bert (Central Otago). He is also survived by 37 grandchildren and 36 great-grandchil-dren. The funeral took place on Monday, which was Mr Pont’s ninety-fourth birthday. ■