OBITUARY.

Press, Volume XLIX, Issue 14837, 1 December 1913, Page 10

OBITUARY.

MR MATTHEW SiTTT.

The news of tho death of Mr Matthew Stitt, _-ho passed peacefully away at his residence, North-West belt, Ashburton, on Saturday morning, was received with profound re_*ret, and the flags at ■the County Council offices and at many of the business places were immediately flown at half-mast out of respect to tho memory of one who had Bpent a long life in the Ashburton district, and who h_d helped in a very great measure indeed, and in innumerable* ways, ..to bring the district from its virgin state of a wide stretch of open Native tus-sock-covered country to its present high state of cultivation and general prosperity. A moro sterling man in every respect, a more loyal friend, or a more thoroughly practical agricultural and pastoral farmer, or one who was more highly esteemed, than the. late Mr Stitt, never breathed, and his loss will be very severely felt. Mr Stitt was born in Kirksudbrightshire, Scotland, in 1842. He was educated in his native place, and brought up to farm-tig in his native country. He arrived in New Zealand in the ship The Chariot of Flame, in the year 1862, and after reaching Lyttelton he. went straight to the Ashburton district, where he had resided and had been occupied in farming pursuits ever since. He was for some time with the late Mr Duncan Cameron, on the Springfield, Estate, near Methven, and after this he took the management of the Winchmore Estate for the late Mr George Hart, and he also successfully farmed an adjoining block of land on his own account, this block being known as "Braemai." After the death of. Mr Hart, and tr her. Winchmore had been subdivided and sold, he purchased a block of the well-known Longbeach Estate, which he held and farmed for a considerable number of years in partnership will. Mr J. R. Hart. During his long residence in the Ashburton district the late Mr Stitt filled with high credit many public and private offices. He was elected a member of the Upper Ashburton Road Board in 1882, and was a member continuously up to the time of his death. In 1896 he was elected to a seat on the Ashburton County Council and did much valuable service on that body for over ten years For many years he was a member of the Ashburton Hospital Board, and always took a keen interest in the management and improve- ! ment of tho county's chief charitable I institution. He was also a lifelong member and a past president of the I Ashburton A. and P. Association, and I was a life member of ihe now defunct ! Ashburton Caledonian Society. He was a member of the Ashburton Racing Club from its inception, and for i many years was the judge and a stew- ! ard of that club. He was also Master lof the old Ashburton Hunt Club for a period of eight years, and no one who ever threw a leg across a saddle ever v rode straighter to hounds or ever handled a horse better. He was one of the truest of true sportsmen, and a most popular master of hounds. As a practical farmer and a keen judge of all classes of stock his advice was often sought, and always freely given with advantage to those who sought the advice. As a valuer of land, too, he was regarded as a high authority, and his services were often in special request. His disposition was of the most kindly and charitable, and no reasonable request ever made to him for assistance was ever refused. He won the respect and high esteem of a very wide circle of friends, and was never known to havo an enemy. Ho leaves a family of two "sons and one daughter to mourn their loss.

Tho late Mr Stitt was a member of the Ashburton branch of the Farmers' Union, and at a meeting . held on Saturday a motion was unanimously carried placing on record the valuable services ne had rendered the town and district, and expressing deep sympathy with his family.