GIFT OF 30 YEARS AGO.

Taranaki Daily News, 7 September 1934, Page 7

GIFT OF 30 YEARS AGO.

PICTURE IN HEMPTON HALL.

GIVEN BACK TO COMMITTEE.

A somewhat unusual incident took place at Hempton Hall, Okato, when a picture presented to the late Mrs. Thomas Hempton 30 years ago on the occasion of the opening of the Hempton Hall and given back again by her sole surviving child, Mr. Arthur Hempton, Wellington, was unveiled by Mr. A. J. Smith, chairman of the Hempton Hall committee, at the Farmers’ Union gathering last night. Mr. Smith said that 30 years was a long way to look back. The Hempton Hall had been built in memory of the late Tom Hempton, who was killed in the South African War. His mother had given the section on which the hall was built, and the committee had presented her with the picture as a memento. He had not been able to get in touch with anyone who remembered the presentation, but the picture had been in the possession of the family ever since. Mr. Arthur Hempton had now had it reframed and presented to the trustees, a. thoughtful act for which they thanked him. Thirty years was a long way to look back. Many of those present took the hall for granted, not realising the thought and work entailed by the pioneers in raising the money by means of bazaars, etc., for its erection. He then removed the Union Jack and unveiled the picture. • The picture is a large print entitled "Queen Alexandra, her grandchildren and dogs.” Underneath it bears the following inscription: "Presented to Mr. Thomas Hempton, of New Plymouth, on the occasion of the opening, of the hall in May, 1904. The hall so named by his fellow residents in memory of her son, Tom Hempton, a member of the 2nd, N.Z. contingent in the Boer War, who died in South Africa oh the 4th. April, 1900. This picture was returned to the hall committee in July, 1934, by Arthur Hempton, the last of Mrs. Hempton’s children.”