AGED 101

Evening Star, Issue 22146, 28 September 1935, Page 14

AGED 101

DEATH DF MAORI WAR VETERAN {Pjeb United Press Association.] AUCKLAND, September 27. The death has occurred of Captain Charles Ross Cholmondeley Smith, a veteran of the Maori wars, at the age of 101 years. In his young days he was considered the finest exponent of swordsmanship in New Zealand. Captain Cholmondeley Smith had been associated with New Zealand life since 1854,- when he came to Auckland in the ship William Denny- with his, father’s family. ■ Born in Sydney, he was a son of Dr Charles Edward Smith,; a noted London. physician, who gave up his English practice and went to New South Wales in the early days. On coming to Auckland, where he intended to become a coach at St. John’s College, ha was for a time master of the old' parish school of St. Mark’s, Remuera. The spell of soldiering then fell upon him and he joined the First Infantry Battalion in, 1855 as a subaltern under Captain Wynyard, of the 58th Regi- , ment. He was transferred to the cavalry in 1858 and placed in command of a troop. : ‘ Captain Cholmondeley Smith learned his sword drill. from the instructor of the 17th Lancers, 'who tailght him to wield the rapier, sabre, broadsword, and lance. One of his prized possessions was a letter from Sir R. Heaton Rhodes, Minister of Defence at the beginning of the Great War, paying a tribute to him for having expressed anxiety to be of service to his country during those days of crisis. In 1859 Captain Cholmondeley Smith married Miss Sarah Littledyke,: a daughter of Richard ' Littledyke, of Yorkshire. In 1874 he took up Glen Var, a property near Torbay, and eventually retired there. Mrs Cholmondeley Smith died in her ninetieth year after they, had been married for 70 years. Captain Cholmondeley Smith is survived by five sou and two daughters.