THE LATE MR I. N. WATT.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1345, 18 September 1886, Page 3

THE LATE MR I. N. WATT.

(Dunedin Heratd.) Another gap has been made iu the ranks of New Zealand pioneers through the death of Mr Isaac Newton Watt, who expired at hia residence, North-East Yalley, at 1 p.m. on Friday last. The deceased gent'eman arrived iu Taranaki on December 23, 1843, in the Himalaya. He was a student at St Bartholomew’s Hospital, but never took his degree. Be was all through the Maori War in 1861 ghortly after bis arrival he obtained a commission in the Militia, and, as a captain, was through the first Maori War, During the war ho bad several narrow escapes—having o"ce when at the head of company bad a meerschaum pipe knocked oat of bis mouth by a bullet. For several years he carried on business as a merchant Ii New Plymouth, and held the agency of Lloyd’s, Shaw, Savili and Co., and of the interprovincial steamers. After the war Mr Watt was elected Superintendent of Taranaki Province, and was the first Speaker of the Provincial Council of Taranaki under the new constitution, and also held office as Provincial Secretary. For many years he held h<gh < ffice among the Freemasons, but ceased to take an active interest in craft matters after being appointed as Resident Magistrate at the Bluff In 1865, which office he hold until 1868, when he was made Sheriff and Resident Magistrate at Dunedin. He was also Protector of Natives. In 1880 ho retired on his pension, and was appointed coroner, and afterwards re appointed Sheriff, holding these appointments until the time of his death. In the early days, when doctors were scarce, his experience as an hospital student proved beneficial to many, both at Taranaki and the Bluff, and at both places he was very well known as “ the doctor. ” During the list ou lie of years or so Mr Watt has been in exceedingly poor health, and it was not much of a surprise to his friends to hear to-day that he had succumbed to some affection of the braiu. Mr Watt, when a public servant, was nnivc y ally liked and respected, and those who knew him in the early days especially spoke well of him. The deceased gentleman, who was over 70 years of age, waa a widower and leaves two sons and two daughters, the younger of whom resides with her husband in Ashburton,