OBITUARY.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XVI, Issue XXV, 20 June 1896, Page 726

OBITUARY.

ANOTHER old Whangarei resident has joined the great majority, a settler who has been in the district for nearly fifty years. This was Mr John Piper Richardson, who died at the age of 79 years at his residence, Whangarei. A large number of people followed the funeral, which took place in the Kamo cemetery. Mr Richardson took great interest in local works and bodies, and has been for several years a prominent member of the Kensington Road Board, and has on several occasions held the Chairmanship of that body. He was a member of the Anglican Church, and has been for several years a member of the Christ Church vestry, and also minister’s warden to All Saints’ Church at Kamo. He leaves a widow and five children, who. with one exception, are married and have families, viz., Mrs James, late of Waikato ; Mrs Millington, wife of the headmaster of the public school at Kamo ; Mr George Richardson, of Australia ; Mrs Taylor, and Miss Richardson, of Mercer. His second son, Arthur, pre-deceased him. Mr Richardson was much respected, and will be greatly missed.

The death is recorded of Mrs Dey, wife of Mr W. Dey, Mayor of Hamilton. The funeral was largely attended, though no public notice of the death could be given. She had passed through a lingering illness, and her death was not unexpected. Many friends at the Thames and Hamilton will regret her loss. The burial service was read by the Rev. J. J. Mather. The members of the Hamilton Borough Council attended in a body at the service to pay their tribute of respect to their chief, and with them were the greater part of the citizens and many from the surrounding district. Mrs Dey leaves a husband and five children to mourn their loss.

The friends of Mr D. R. Gellion will receive with regret the news of his death in the Melbourne Hospital. He was for many years a sharebroker at the Thames, and is well known in Auckland.

It is with sorrow that the death of Mr C. H. Mathieson, foreman of telephone exchange construction, resident at Belmont Terrace, Remuera, Auckland, is recorded. Mr Mathieson was engaged on the roof of Messrs Clark’s factory putting in a telephone wire, when the ladder slipped, and he fell to the pavement, breaking both arms, one leg, and fracturing his skull. Deceased was a Dane by birth, and had been engaged in the Telegraph Department for a period of twenty years, having been sixteen years in Auckland. He was forty years of age. He was a much valued and respected officer, and in the department and among his friends he will be greatly missed. He played a first violin in the Choral Society, being one ot the principal members of the orchestra, and had been an active member of the committee of the Choral Society for some time previous to his death, and was also a member of St. Luke's Presbyterian Church. He leaves a widow and five children. At the large funeral the various offices and societies with which he was connected were well represented.

It is with sincere regret that we note the death of Mrs Dransfield, one of Wellington’s early colonists, of whom so few are now left. Mrs Dransfield is one who has had a real influence on those around her for so long that she leaves a blank which can never be filled. Experience of the early difficulties is a knowledge which claims reS|>ect and interest wherever it is found, and when it is united with the frank kindness and genial hospitality ever shown by Mrs Dransfield, it draws forth a warmer feeling, and admiration mingled with personal love was shown by all who knew her. Much sympathy is felt for her family in their sudden loss.

Much regret has been expressed in Wellington over the death of Mr Henry Hughes, who has been in business in the Empire City as a patent agent for a number of years. Deceased was born in London on June 12th, 1833, and was therefore about 63 years of age. He was educated for an engineer, and assisted in the building of the ‘Great Eastern.’ Afterwards he was employed in the erection of machinery at the great International Exhibition in London. Mr Hughes was the first person in Great Britain to build locomotive engines for street tramways. The engines which were used on the Wellington tramways when the service was started were supplied from his works. He came to Wellington in 1883, and after completing the tramway in connection with the coal mine at Westport, started the International Patent and Trade Marks Office, and succeeded in building up a large and flourishing business, with branches in all the principal centres of the colony. He was a member of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers (London), of the chartered Institute of Patent Agents (London), and of the Society of Arts, and was also a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Patent Agents. Mr Hughes leaves a widow and a grown-up family of three sons and five daughters.