OBITUARY.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXIII, 3 May 1926, Page 11

OBITUARY.

LADY MACKENZIE. By Cable —PreRS Association—Copyvijrht. Australia!: and N.Z. Cable Association. (Received May 2, 5.5 p.m.) LONDON, May 1. Lady Mackenzie was buried at Tonbridge. Sir James Allen sent a wreath on behalf of the Government. Sir James Bell sent a wreath on behalf of the Legislative Council of New Zealand. i SIR TIMOTHY COGHLAN. j Australian and N.Z. Cable Association. By Cable—Press Association—Copyright. LONDON, April 30. The death is announced of Sir Timothy Coghlan. He met Messrs "W. F. Dunn and H. F. McTiernan, the New South Wales Ministers, and escorted them to their hotel. Ho felt ill, went home, and died in a" few minutes. (Received May 2, 5.5 p.m.) LONDON, May 1. Though he previously suffered from angina pectoris, Sir Timothy Coghlan lately seemed in the best of health, and was at his office to-day, dealing with tho completion of the year’s accounts. The newspapers pay a, tribute to Sir Timothy Coghlan’s world-wide celebrity as a statistican, economist and writer. He is said to have achieved a record among Australian agents-general in the amount of loan money floated for his State. The late Sir Timothy who was AgentGeneral for New South Wales from 1905-1915, and 1916-17, and. since 1920, was educated at the Sydney Grammar School, and for a period was-a-member, of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, and filled a multitude of positions through his lengthy service as a public officer. He was assistant engineer of harbours and rivers in 1884; Government Statistician for New South Wales, from 1886 to 1905; Registrar of Friendly Societies 1892 to 1905; Chairman of the Old' Age Pensions Board 1901.-1905; Mernler of He Civil Service Board 1896 to 1900: Royal Commissioner to divide New South Wales : into electoral districts and Royal Commiss’oner to divide New South Wales into local Government areas. He was a member of a large number of societies, narticularlv those connected with statistical matter,- and was a prolific . writer, . hip publications, including the following; “Wealth and .Progress of New South Wales,” “Picturesque New' South Wales.” “Tile Seven Colonies of Australasia,” “Discharge of Streams in Relation to Rainfall,” “Childbirth: A Study in Statistics,” “Notes on the Financial Aspect of Fedeuaton,” 1 ‘Deport, on the Eleventh Census of New South Wales,” “Child Measurement,” “Decline in the Birthrate of _ Australia and New Zealand,” “Statistical Account of Australia and New Zealand,” “Labour and Industry in Australia. 1919,” “A Historv of Labour and Industry in Aiis-. tratia.”

HON. W. J. GEDDES. By Telegraph— NAPIER, Mav 1. A well-known figure in New Zealand journalism died on Saturday night., in the person of the Hon. "W. J. Gcddos, M.L.C., aged 65 years. Deceased for many years was managing director of the “New Zealand Times” and the “Napier Daily Telegraph,” and formerly was' part proprietor of tho “New Zealand Observer.” Deceased was one of a party of New Zealand editors who made a tour, of France- during the war. He had been a member of the Legislative Council for about eight years, having been re-appointed last year on the expiration of his previous term.

MR JAMES WILSON. There passed awav at his residence, Avenue Rond, on Satnrdav morning, another of the pioneers of this country in the person of Mr James "Wilson, whose name was so long associated with the Allandale estate, near Fairlie. The deceased, who was a native of Oarrickfergiis (North Ireland) came to New Zealand in 18G4 hv tho ship Ramsay, and he and a brother took up land at Panakaio, a few miles out of Oamaru. Having farmed this for some years the partnership was dissolved, and Mr James Wilson went to Fairlie and bought the. . Allandale estate of 9500 acres. This was then in its native state, gild.Mr Wilson,, wlio was a very good fanner, “broke'it in” and made it literally b’ossom a's tile rose, converting it into one of. the finest big agricultural" holdings in Canterbury. After a very active life on tho land. Mr Wilson sold "Allahdalo in 1909, and has since lived" in retirement at Timaru. : ,

A man of untieing energy and long vision, *ho found 'it 'impossible to bo idle, arid to fi"nM“ , '6tWp l atbl« _ior his active brain he was one of the prime movers ,in the erection here of the Silo Flour and .(Biscuit Mills. In tips lie took a. very keen -interest, and was chairman of directors from the inception of the company until his death. 'i • , When he lived at Allandale, Mr Wilson was a member of the Mount Peel Road Board, and for some years was a. valued mcmboi - of the Timaru Harbour Board. Though lie did not serve on many public bodies, he took a great interest in local and Dominion politics; and being gifted bovoiul the I ordinary in sagacity, his advice was ] always worth seeking. Looking always i to the future rather than dwelling on ! the past, Mr Wilson was always one | of the first to see possibilities ahead, and when the project to harness tho waters of Lake Tekano was first mooted it caught his imagination, and with I tho optimism of youth ho pushed it to the utmost of liis power, and hacked his opinion with his money, defraying the whole of the cost of the preliminary survey out of his own pocket, because he was convinced that it would he in the best interest of South. Canterbury to have this power —and be was always ready, to,do..what be, could to forward the interests of" the town and district in which he lived. But it was not only in a. public sense that Mr Wilson served his generation well. His private benefactions were manv and varied, and no appeal on behalf of a worthy cause or individual was made to him in vnm. He was one of those who gave anonymously and who was quite satisfied if lie saw that his generosity boro rood fruit. That was all the thanks which bo desired, and lie always shrank from publicity. A devout churchman, Mr Wilson was an elder of the Presbyterian Church when be lived at Allandale, and since taking np his residence- in Timaru lie was a regular attendant at and a. strong supporter of Trinity Presbyterian Church. His wife predeceased, him 32 years ago. and be is survived v>v two daughters and two grand-children. The interment will'take place in the Fairlie cemetery at 3 p.m. to-day.