Mr. H. Oakley Browne Retires; Well-Known N.Z. Journalist

Wanganui Chronicle, 31 May 1949, Page 4

Mr. H. Oakley Browne Retires; Well-Known N.Z. Journalist

A former resident of Wanganui for a short period when he was proprietor of Chavannes Hotel, and one of , the best-known journalists m New Zealand, Mr. H. Oakley Browne ret.red from the staff of the Auckland Stai last week. t ,

Mr. Browne represented the third generat ion in a family of New Zealand journalists, his grandfather having been editor, of the New Zealand Herald more than 50 years ago. Mr.

Browne started his newspaper career early in the century Doing on the staff of the row defunct New Zealanu Times One of his biggest scoops

when on that paper was his coverage of the wreck of the Penguin in 1909. Mr. Browne was press gallery representative for the New Zealand Times in from 1910 until 1912. During the First World War he was secretary to Sir Joseph Ward and accompanied him to England with Mr. Massey. In 1922 Mr. Browne came to reside in Wanganui taking over Chavannes Hotel, which stood on the site of the present National Bank of New Zealand. In 1925 he joined the staff of the Auckland Star and was its Parliamentary reporter from 1935 until 1945. He is a former president of the Auckland Journalists Union.