MAN FOUND IN CREEK

Taranaki Daily News, 14 December 1926, Page 9

MAN FOUND IN CREEK

VERDICT OF SUICIDE. 1 . By Telegraph.—Prats Association. Auckland, Dec. 13. The body of John Ignatius Fox, who disappeared from his farm on Wednesday, was found in Henderson creek on Saturday afternoon. At the inquest on Sunday a letter produced stated that, although he had been awarded damages in the libel action originating in the Waikato, he believed friends viewed him with suspicion on account of the allegation that he was a German spy. Fox mentioned the names of two British officers who could dissipate the stigma. The verdict was suicide whilst suffering irom depression. Pahiatua, Last Night. The late John Ingnatius Fox, whose body was found in Henderson creek, was several years ago a member of the Borough Council, Debating Society, and other institutions here. He figured very prominently in local public life for a time, and generally appeared to have had an eventful career. Fox was a naturalised Austrian and was born in Vienna in 1878. His family name was Fuchs. He was educated at Oxford. He was a prominent Fabian and a frequent guest of the Countess of Warwick. He was acquainted with H. G. Wells, G. K. Chesterton and Bernard Shaw. As an associate of the British Labour Party, he stood for Reading Division against Sir Rufus Isaacs, now the Marquis of Reading. He enlisted with the British section of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force in 1914, and served in Egypt and Gallipoli. Returning to England in 1920, he established a chib for discharged New Zealanders in London. After lecturing in military camps he came to the Dominion and settled at Feilding. He was secretary of the Wellington Returned Soldiers’ Association and later organiser for the Waikato Dairy Farmers’ Union.