OBITUARY.

Taranaki Daily News, 16 June 1923, Page 4

OBITUARY.

MR. R. T. B. MELLOW. The death which occurred on Tuesday last at his residence, Manaia Road, Kaponga, of Mr. R. T. B. Mellow, removes another of Taranaki’s most progressive farmers. The funeral took place at Kaponga on Thursday afternoon, and was largely attended. The late Mr. Mellow was born in Cornwall, England, and came out to Ne\v Zealand as a young man in the sailing ship 1872. Soon after he joined the well-known firm of Kirkcaldio and Stains, remaining with them for about a year, when he married and took up farming at the Hutt, where he resided for about 22 years, during which time he took an active part in all local affairs, being chairman of the Hutt -County Council for some years. He also took a keen interest in Aryshire cattle and horses, and was considered one of the best judges of horses in the Wellington province, and was a very successful exhibitor both in Wellington and Taranaki.

Selling out at the Hutt about 28 years ago, Mr. Mellow came up to Taranaki, and purchased a farm of 256 acres freehold, then mostly bush, from Mr. Walter Wilkie, on the Manaia Road, where he resided until the time of his death. • After coming to Taranaki he continued to take an active interest in purebred stock, bringing with him some of the best blood Aryshires then in New Zealand, later on going in for Shorthorns and Jerseys, but eventually deciding in favor of the Friesians as being the some suitable for the Taranaki climate. He was fortunate in securing a number of imported animals from America, from which he bred up his well-known stud herd.

He was one of the originators of the Kaponga co-operative dairy factory and was chairman for some years. He was of a retiring but genial disposition, and was always ready to help with any good cause for the advancement of the district. He is survived by his widow and a family of 10 sons and three daughters, all of whom are married, except the youngest son (Sydney), who resides with his mother in the homestead. Two of the sons, Trevor and Arnold, went to the front, returning to New Zealand with their wives for a short time after the war, when they again returned to England, where they now reside. The other sons, Hector, Vivian, Horace, Rowland and Guy are all farming in the Kaponga district, and William and Arthur are farming in the Wt’.kato. The daughters are Mrs. Allen (Orotobanga), Mrs. Wilkie (Trentham) and Mrs. Gapper (Sydney).