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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XI, Issue 122, 15 May 1876, Page 2

Bx ; the train from the country this; morning, the sad atid startling news was brought to town that Mr Frank Simmons, tHe Head Master of.the Nelson College, had been found dead ,in his bed at Fpxhill. For some weeks pajjt he had been suffering from rheumajtic fever, bnt of late had improved in , health very much, and on Saturday/ afternoon he went out to Foxhill witb Mrs Simmons, intending to return to town this morning. He appeared well and in good spirits yesterday evening, and sat up talking until eleven o'clock when he went to bed, but being unable to sleep he got up and took a dose -of chloral, which, however, did not produce the desired effect, and a little later be took another dose, after which he went to sleep. This morning, Mrs Simmons called him at half-past six, as. they were to return to town by the half-past seven train, but received no answer, and; on looking at him she found he was dead. An inquest, we understand, will be held, this evening. Mr Simmons, who was generally allowed to be, one of the most finished scholars in New Zealand, came out to the colony as Rector of. the. Dunedin High School, but in 1868 he^ was appointed to tbe Head Mastership of the Nelson College, the -Governors^ uppn reading his testimonials, unanimously selecting bim from forty-one' applicants. That tlteir choice was a wise one bas been prqvethby the results, our College with Mr Simmons* as classical, and Mr Mackay as mathematical master, baving of late years occupied a very prominent position among the educational establishments ofthe colony, fifteen out of the forty-one scholarships offered by the New Zealand University since 1872 having been secured by pupils bailing from Nelson. An accomplished scholar," with a mind -^eirstored with information on every subject, Mr Simmons had a wonderful faculty "of imparting to others the knowledge be himself so largely possessed,- and hence arose bis unquestioned success as a teacher. He had made many friends both here and in Dunedin,. all of whom will be greatly shocked, on receiving the . intelligence of his sudden death. The funeral, we understand, is to take place on Wednesday. SBnOHHBIB^BBMMHIHBnBi