THE LATE MR E. H. HUNT.

Colonist, Volume LXII, Issue 15310, 25 February 1920, Page 5

THE LATE MR E. H. HUNT.

1 My E. H. Hunt, an interesting personality, and one of New Zealand's early settlers, died at Nelson on Saturday at the ripe age of 90 years. Mr Hunt, who was a native of Somerset, England, emigrated with his wife and family to Victoria in 1852. This was at the height of the gold rush, when houses were unobtainable and water was sold at 15s per bucket. Mr Hunt for a time was a trader at different mining centres, afterwards carrying on the business of merchant in Little Collins street, Melbourne. During this period he held a long lease from the Tasmaniah Government of King Island, in Bass Strait, with an area of 270,000 acres, at a yearly rental of one farthing per acre. King Island has ..now a population, of 1200 people, and land there is worth up to £40 an acre. After several trips to England Mr Hunt and his family decided to make their future home in New Zealand, and the journey out was made via the Isthmus of Panama (by ra:l) in 1868. For many years Mr Hunt carried on business as a merchant and boot and shoe importer in Wellington. In 1884 he took up land in Taranaki, in the days when butter was 4d a pound and three-year-old bullocks realised £2 10s. Later he purchased a large flaxmilling business on the Piako'Swamp, Auckland, and had under charter the small steamer Lily, which until a few years ago was in the Nelson-Motu-eka trade. The unstable state of the hemp market in those days induced him to relinquish the trade, and he again entered business in Auckland. For ,the last 33 years Mr Hunt lived in retirement in Nelson. He was a Freemason and always took a keen interest in public affairs, as well as being a staunch Imperialist. Mr Hunt is survived by his widow and the following sons and daughters: Mrs Mrs L. C. Roskruge and Mrs H. P. Mills (Wellington), Mrs. Thos. King (Nelson), and "Messrs Fred. Hunt (Auckland), N. Hunt (Napier), H. K. Hunt (Taranaki), and A. Leigh Hunt, general manager of the N.Z. Farmers' Co-operative Distributing Co., Wellington.