GERMAN COUNT’S DEATH

Southland Times, Issue 23502, 7 May 1938, Page 7

GERMAN COUNT’S DEATH

MANY YEARS SPENT IN SOUTHLAND PROMINENCE AS DAIRY FARMER Descendant of a family of noblemen who once held considerable power in Germany, Baron Otto Fritz Mayenfield, Count von Roon, B.Sc., F.L.S., F.R.G.S., died in Invercargill this week in modest retirement after nearly 40 years spent in farming in Southland. Count von Roon was a son of General von Roon, who was Minister of War in Germany during the Franco-Prussian war and who was a very prominent figure in German politics during the ’seventies of last century* The family title was inherited by his son who would probably have carried on the family tradition but for an unfortunate mountaineering accident in the Swiss Alps in which he lost his hearing and two fellow students of Heidelberg University were killed by an avalanche. He received a very good education at the university and was an apt student. He obtained degrees at an early age and a gold medal for duelling. Deciding to travel, Coun von Roon set out from Germany for America and came to New Zealand when 19 years of age. He continued his studies for a time at the Canterbury University College and later came south. He was for some years engaged in bee keeping at Menzies Ferry and later married Miss Elizabeth Nicholson, of Brydone. He settled at Brydone and took up dairy farming. He was an enthusiast for the Jersey breed and claimed responsibility for introducing the breed into Southland. After living at Brydone for 20 years, he went to live at Waimahaka for about seven years and then bought another farm at Makarewa where he resided for another three years. He decided to retire from farming' four years ago and lived in Invercargill. He remained very active, however, and spent much time in his garden, being a great lover of horticulture. He is survived by his widow. There is no family.