OBITUARY

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 31, 6 February 1932, Page 12

OBITUARY

MR. C. E. BEETHAM

The death occured yesterday, at his residence, "Ardsley," Opaki road, Masterton, of Mr. Charles Edward Beetham, the last surviving member of the Beetham brothers, who were among the pioneers of the Wellington Province. Mr. Beetham, who was the fifth son of Mr. William Beetham, was borne in Lincolnshire, England, on 17th May, 1843. As a boy of twelve he came out to New Zealand with his parents, living at first at To Kamo in the Hutt Valley. He later shifted to the Wairarapa district, where his father, in 1856, bought 21,000 acres of the Brancepeth Estate. Mr. T. C. Williams, who had a large adjoining holding, entered into partnership with Mr. Beetham, sen. tho partners' joint estate embracing about 50,000 acres. Mr. Charles Beetham was here for only two years for, at the end of that period, he commenced farming on his own account at Himatangi, Foxton. In the Maori War, of 1868, he was a lieutenant in command of a troop of Lady Bowen's Horse. In 1877 he joined his brothers, George, Joseph, and Norman, and took up the Te Apiti Block in Hawkes Bay. While in Hawkes Bay, Mr. Boetham was connected with various local bodies. In 1892 he purchased a property at Clifton, Pahiatua, where ho bred stud sheep for several years. In 1911 he went into retirement at "Ardsley," and has lived there since. The late Mr. Beetham, who remained a bachelor throughout his life, is survived by one of his three sisters, Mrs. C. Fitzroy, of Havelock, Hawkes Bay.

With a view to winding .up (he estate, the trustees of the late Mr. Joseph Dwyer invite tenders for the purchase, as a going concern, o£ the Midland Hotel premises and licence.