DEATH OF SIR JOHN THURSTON.

Samoa Weekly Herald, Volume 3, Issue 9, 27 February 1897, Page 2

DEATH OF SIR JOHN THURSTON.

THE FUNERAL A ItHANGE- < M ENTS. i i M EI.BOUHSE, ] The remains of Sir John B Thurston, I who died during the voyage of the i liurrunibeet from Sydney to Mel- < bourne, were removed from the steamer to-day and were conveyed to the mor- ' tuary at Richmond. On Thursday the ' rein dns will be taken to Government < j House, and the funeral will start from : j there at 2 p.m. for the M.'lbourne i j General Cemetery, where the body will ] lie interred with military honours, J Sir John Thurston suffered from an ' affection of the spinal cord, involving i ■ atrophy of the muscles, which impeded both speaking and swallowing. A change of climate was ordered him, and oil his arrival in Sydney he bad so greatly improved in health that hopes were entertained of his recovery, but during the voyage from Sydney to Melbourne he suffered a relapse and died on Sunday. AN ABLE ADMINSTRATOR. REVIEW OK HIS CAKKKK. By the denth of Sir J. H. Thurston, K.0.M.G., F.L.S., F.H.G.S,, Great Britain has lost one of her most capable colonial odminstrntors, and the foremost man in the Western Pacific His death was not unexpected, as ho had been ailing for a long time, but when he left Sydney a few days ago—having just previously arrived f.-om Fiji—it was hardly anticipated thnt before the veasel reached Melbourne he would have passed away. John Bates Thuiston was born at Bath, Gloucestershire on 31st January 1836. At an early age he went to sea, and after some time spent in New South Wales he was wrecked on one of the South Sea Islands. He was a possenI ger by a vessel which in the early , sixties was wrecked on the island of . Idituiimli, about 300 miles to tho north ! of Fiji. From there he and his cotni panions in misfortune were taken by the Rev. Mr. Calvert, a missionary, to r Fiji, with which he was ever nftorI ward* prominently identified. In 18G6 / Mr. Thurston obtained a position in t the office of the British Consul for Fiji f and Tonga (Captain Jones, V.C.), 1 afterwards temporarily filling the pos- , £ion of acting-consul for about six 1 months in 180' J. tu 1859 Thnkundmii, . tho King or (list chief of the island, in t consequence of the heavy claim made against him by the American Government on account of damage done to * the property of the American Consul some years previously, offered to cede | the islands to Great Britain on con ~ dition thill the debt was paid and he ( . was allowed to retain his sovereignity. , t Acting on llie advice of I be special „ commissioner, Colonel Symthe, the ,j olTer wan in 186'.! rejected. Owing to . the American civil war, there arose ft u great demand for cotton, and this dn- ,, mand the plantation* of Fiji in part ,i supplied. The increase of the plantain tions brought with it great increase of a the whit* population, an that the !, European people in the team preceding ti 18"'i must have numbered quite 4000 i, -inil. Iu 1872 nn attempt wu made r by the white settlers to net up a cons titutional Government and i cabinet.

was formed, the chief members lieing Messrs. Woods and Butt, This was termed, the *' quasi Government." Upon some difficulty with the. Varliament which had been oreated by King Thakamhan, Mr Thurston by thfl unanimous, wish of the Europeans and the natives, entered the Ministry, to which lie brought a treat amoun* of strength. His position was that of Chief Secretary and Minister of Foreign Relations. During all this time an agitation had been proceeding for the annexation of the islands to Great Britain, and two years later, 1874, Commodore Goodenough and Mr. Liiyare, the Consul, were appointed Commissioners u> enquire- into the

matter. On that occasion Mr. Thurston was called to the position of 11 chosen and special adviser " to. the native Kim; and chiefs to- confer with the Commissioners. Acting on the Commissioners, report Great Britain decided to annex the islands, and in September of the same- year, when Sip Hercules Robinson arrived to formally hoist the British flag,, lie was again nominated as special adviser to the chiefs for the purpose of conferring with Sir Hercules with regard to tl*

reminn P~ii-..»1, he hid Ix-en Chief Secretary of the "ad iutennv Government" which after the offer of cession had succeeded the quasi Government. On the 10th October, 1874. the British (lag was hoisted, and and the annexation of the Fijis to Great Britain was made with due ceremony. A Government was then formed under Mr. Uayard,

the Adminstrator, Mr. Thurston taking the office of AuditorGeneral and subsqucntly that of Colonial Secretary. If. September, 187S, when Sir Arthur Gouloti assumed the governorship of Fiji, to which was, at a subsequent period, ad.led the office of Consul-General anil High Commissioner for the Western Pacific, Mr. Thurston continued to

hold the position of Colonial S.mutnry, and afterwaids »™ appointed score tarv t<> the High Commissioner, He administered the Government of Fiji

luring the last two months of 1880, Hid in the same year, and also in the nllowing year, he was sent on special lutv connected with treaty negotinion's to the Friendly Islaiuis. In the leginning of 1830 Sir George Des •/cdux succeeded Sir Arthur Gonlon .lie Governor of Fiji, and Mr. Thurston enjoyed, as he had done that of lis predecessor, his confidence as well is that of Sir Charles Mitchell, who succeeded Sir Henry Des Vreux in 1887. In 1882 he was Deputy Governor of Fiji during the absence vf the Governor on duty as High Commissioner for the Western Pacific, ind administered the Government from November, 1883, to July, 1884. He was appointed assistant High Commissioner for the Western Pacific . in November, 1883, and acted as Consul-General from April to June, 1881. In March, 1880, Mr. Thurston was summoned to Englau I in connection with the joint commission to inquire into the claims of German subjects to lands in the South Seas, and in August of Ihe same year was appointed Britisb Commissioner- on the Aoglo-Germany Commission for the discussion of the interests of German and British subjects respectively in the South Seas, and for the more precise definition of British and German territorial interests in those regions. He again administered the Government in 18856, and was made Lieutenant-Governor in 1886. ' He held that position till next year, when he was appointed Governor of Fiji and High Commissioner for the Western Pacific. At that time he was in England, and did not arrive in the colony till 24th February, 1888. He was sworn hi three days later, and continued in thot cilice till his death. As an administrator he was able, firm, just, and impartial. After 1874 when the American cotton trodu had recovered its volume, and it had be* come impossible for the cotton plantation-! to compete with those of the States, the population of the Islands rapidly declined, till at the present time there nre no more thiui 1500 whites in the grcup. To soino of those perhaps he did not altogether give satisfaction, but it was generally recognised that he always strove for the b-'st interests of the islands. He knowledge of natives and their ways was not to tie surrfused. He laid the foundation* of this knowledge in his plantations ni Ovalau and at Taviuui during the early days of the while settlement, and although he gave up these plantations when he assumed ! office he continued lo keep thoroughly I in touch with tho aboriginals, and was

completely trusted by them. As High Commissioner for thu Western Pacific Sir John Thurston visited Tonga in n mnno'-war, and, acting under instructions, deported tho llev. Shindy W. Baker, the Premier of thu kingdom under King George. Amung his most notable lutes nets was the quelling of a nalive rebellion in June, 1894, on the island of Vauua Levu. To ensure success he made a forced march, took the insurgents by surprise entirely routed them, and eatiiured the chiefs. but the strain on his system had been too great. Stion after his return to. the capital ho became ill, and never quite recovered. In 189 ft he went to England to consult siie.ialisU, hut hb> prospects did not Improve, and in December of that year he returned to Hyduey, and later on procredisl u> Fiji. There he re. tuainet! till December of lost year, when his nephew Dr. Murray, acting in consultation with Dr. Coruey, Chief Government Medical UftU-er of Fiji, decided that it would bo better lu re move him away front Uie moist atmos (•hero of the islands to Melbourne. In January Sir John, in company

I with his wife, eldest daughter, and i youngest son, left by the Miowera for | Melbourne, via Sydney, and was on , his way between Sydney and Melbourne when death overtook him. In j regard to the work of the missionaries 1 in"the South Seas, Sir John Thurston has always borno an. excellent reI putation. Although a member of the Church of England, ho worked in unison with the Wesleyan missions in the islands, and this was all the more noticeable, inasmuch as the other Governors, with the exception of Sir Charles Mitchell, hail been, singularly fealous of «hj» inOueuce- of the missions. Although the Roman Catholio mission did not altogether see eye to. eye with Sir John, he did not let this fact interfere with his administration. * the slightest degree, and h- "!'" partiality was strikingly n>- I,tes * J" the disposal of the par-"»»S e oi 1(v Government, officials -«•«' am " n « ll '» weather they belonged *» tlu * Roman Catholic , mSIi or to the Wesleyan Mission. j : Hi- Knowledge of ths native r j Imy.md Fiji, and embraced i 1 the whole of the area over which he , was High Commissioner. All through the. terrltoiy under his cootrol he was looked up to by the aboriginals as one who would see that justice was done to them, and as one in whom they could trust. To missions he was , eminently favourable, and he will be greatly missed by all the missionaries : in the South Seas—the Presbyterians, the Melanesian Mission and the Wesleyan mission. During the existence of the " quasi" government in • the late sixties and the early seventies Sir John Thurston was the owner and [ publisher of the Fiji Argtts. He was i twice married, his second wife, who survives him, l>cing the widow of Mr. I LV Arcy Murray. In 1880 he was , created a CM.(J., and in 1887 he re- , iceved his knighthood—S. 31. Herald. The following letter also appeared with the above.

Sir,—Will vou allow me to pay a tribute to the*memory of the Governor of many islands who has passed away. IU-* nil" altered nut the laws, customs, nor govorment of tlte- Fijiaus, reconciling and vindicating their autonomy with th" mild and beneficent goverutuent of the whites. I am, &o , ADAM J. WILSON.