OBITUARY.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 12102, 3 September 1917, Page 6

OBITUARY.

THOMAS E. GPEEN, Of TCAIinYI. -Mr Thomas E. Green, of the Tuabiwi Maori settlement. Ivaiapoi, whoso death at the Christchurch flo.-pital. at 'the ago of seventy-seven years, is announced to-day. was a half-canto chief of high standing in the Ngai-Tahu tribe, and tho leading surviving authority on native history and genealogical records in tho South Island. Tame Kirini, as ho was known among the Maoris, was the son of an early .European settler and Kumea, a rangatira woman of tho Ngati-Hinotnafua hapu of Ngai-Tahu, and nearly all his life was spent in tho Kaiapoi district. In his youthful days lie took a. share in the adventurous work of pioneering in gold-mining and stock-working, and he was one of The first diggers at Gabriel's Gully. Otago, and on the Shot-over rsuh. in the Wakatipu district, over fifty years ago. A number of Maoris from Canterbury and Otago were among the lucky goldhunters on the Shot-over and other alluvial workings in the vicinity. In later years he followed farming pursuits, and was well known at one time, as a sheepshearer. For .some, years past bis failing sight- had greatly handicapped his act/ivities. Tame Kirini could trace his descent back in a direct line for twenty-two generations to Uentiku and Paifeea, famous names in Maori-Polynesian history. His mother's tribal genealogy indeed went back much further, into the regions of mythology, for the family tree begins with Mam, the traditional Polynesian discoverer of New Zealand, fifty generations ago. From bis youthful years Mr Green was a student of the legends and history of bis mother's race, and he drew a large fund of information from the old chiefs of NgaiTahu. His knowledge of " whakapapas," or family and inter-tribal genealogies, was very extensive and accurate, and his evidence was accordingly regarded as valuable at Native Land Court Rittings'and on disputed points of South island history. Tip was also a reliable authority on Canterbury Maori place-names, and his contributions to the "Star" and the '• Lyttelton Times " on such subjects were always of deep interest to residents of this district. Mr Green was a keen student of chess up till recent times, and was especially interested in problems, in which branch he was an expert composer and solver. He admired, the intricacies and beauties of problems, and was ever enin discussing the technical and poetical aspects of problem composition. For many vears ho was a regular contributor to the "Canterbury Times" ohess column, and many of his problems have appeared in that journal. Ho was never a strong ovor-tlie-board player, the reason being, probably, that lie. had so little opportunity to meet other players, and it was for this reason that ho became such a devout exponent of the problem art.