MR. VIVIAN RIDDIEOED

Evening Post, Volume CXVIII, Issue 89, 12 October 1934, Page 11

MR. VIVIAN RIDDIEOED

SPORTSMAN & PASTORALIST

The advice that Mr. Edward Vivian Biddiford, of Woburn, Lower Hutt, the well-known pastoralist and sportsman, died at sea yesterday on board the Eangitiki, while .returning from a trip to the Old . Country accompanied by Mrs. Eiddifdrd and his daughter Pamela, will cause concern among the many friends of a busy life, and also amongst sportsmen generally, as he was ono on the best-known racehorse owners and breeders an New Zsaland. The late Mr. Biddifo,rd was not in the best "of health when he loft for England, but it was understood that the trip had done him a great deal of good.

Mr. Riddiford, who has' in his 55th. year, was a son of Mr. E. J. Eiddiford, and the grandson of Mr. Daniel Eiddiford, one of the Dominion's pioneers, who arrived in New Zealand in 1840 on the ship Adelaide (Captain Chaffers). Born at Lower Hutt in 1879, Mr. Vivian Eiddiford was educated at Wanganui Collegiate . School, and commenced his sheep-farming career on his father's property, '/Te Awaiti," Wairarapa, and later managed his father's properties, including "Longburn," "Cheltenham," and others, and on his father's death he took over "Glenburn," a sheep and cattle run on the east coast, and "Tablelands," the Romney Marsh stud in the AVairarapa. In 1908 he married Mias Zoe Thorne George, of Auckland, daughter of the Hon. Seymour I'horne George. Apart from'racing, the late Mr. Eiddiford's recreations were golf and tennis. Ho was a member of the Wellington and Lower Hutt Golf Clubs, and was a good example of the player who enjoys the game for its own sake. The late Mr. Eiddifordwas a member of the Wellington Club, the Wellesley Club, the' Northern Club ' (Auckland), . the Christchurch Club, the Boodles Club (London), and the Princes Club (London). , He was also a member of the board of directors of the Mercantile and General Insurance Co., Ltd. Widely known and respected as a sportsman, the late Mr. Vivian Eiddiford was for "many years prominently associated with racing, and he also took an active interest in several other branches of sport. Tor a long period he had been a steward of the Wellington Eacing Club, and he had again been re-elected to the position for the present year. His racing colours — emerald green and whito chequers — were carried with distinction for many years, and so also were those used when he and his "brother, Mr. Erie Eiddiford, were partners in racing. Notable performers on the Turf for the late Mr. Vivian Eiddiford included Historic, Grand Knight, Panther, Quiescent, Lineage, Kilrain, and Eminent, and successes achieved in a distinguished racing career included the winning of such important events as the Avondale Cup (Historic), • the Avon dale Stakes (Lineage), the C.J.C. Great Easter and Great Autumn (both by Grand Knight in 1926), the C.J.C. Winter Cup and the Manawatu Cup (Historic), the Eeilding Stakes (Grand Knight), and the Wellington Cup (by Kilrain in 1914). During the past year or so Mr. Vivian Eiddiford's racing activities had been curtailed very considerably, but Eminent scored a further important success for him in winning the Taranaki Cup last year. With his brother, the late Mr.'Eiddiford shared in many other racing honours. Eacing in their joint interests, Coalition won the Grand National Steeplechase in 1920 and scored again in the same event the following year for.Mr. Eric Eiddiford. Mascot, Menelaus, and Chakwana were other noted performers on tho Turf that won important events for the Eiddiford • brothers, such events as the Auckland Cup, the Auckland Easter Handicap, the New Zealand Cup (by Menelaus in 1917), and the Canterbury Cup. "Brentwood Farm," at Trcntham, one of the largest of the racing establishments, was owned by the late Mr. Vivian Eiddiford, but two years ago the owner intimated that he intended to retire from extensive active participation in the sport of racing and he subsequently disposed of .most of his horses. At the time of his death he had but two in training, whereas there were times formerly when he had as many as twenty in work. Besides the racing stock there were several valuable brood mares on . "Brentwood Farm." Horses raced from the late Mr. V.- Eiddiford's training - stables at Trentham had earned well over £30,000 in a period of ten years. The field of sport is the poorer for the passing of this noted sportsman. A memorial service in honour of the late Mr. Eiddiford will be held in fet. James's Parish Church, Lower Hutt, on Monday, at 2 p.m. . - . ■ EX-MAYOR'S TRIBUTE. Mr. W. T. Strand, ex-Mayor of Lower Hutt, paying a tribute to the late Mr. Eiddiford, said: "He was of a particularly retiring nature, but I know him to have been one of the most public spirited men in the Dominion; one who delighted to do good without having his name associated with his act. During my term of 'office in the acute stages of the depression he was most liberal and stood behind me la every undertaking for the benefit of the district and for the assistance of those in need. He was a gentleman a:iongst men, and one who will be most sadly missed not only in this district but in. New Zealand. lam glad that we have "his name permanently associated with the district in Eiddiford. Park. Eiddiford Park was the gift to the borough of Mr. Vivian Eiddiford in .conjunction with his two brothers, Messrs. Daniel and Erie Eiddiford."

Mr. W. P. Williams, the honorary secretary of the Mayor's relief fund in Lower Hutt, said: "I can only say that Mr. Vivian Biddiford was a very good friend to the relief, of distress in Lower Hutt." He is survived by Ma widow and two- daughters, Mrs. J. E. P. Vogel and Miss Eiddiford, and two brothers, Messrs. Daniel, of Wairarapa, and Eric, of Orongorongo.