THE DEATH OF MR. PETER BOURKE.

Poverty Bay Standard, Volume XI, Issue 1297, 15 March 1883, Page 2

THE DEATH OF MR. PETER BOURKE.

Another old settler has passed away, and ; the ranks of those who were the first to colonise New Zealand have lost one who was , respected and loved by oil who knew him. Mr Bourke was in the truest sense of the I word a gentleman. He was kind and affable to all; rank or station made no difference to him. There were many on Tuesday who heard of his demise with sincere regret, he : having been for some years resident amongst ns. Mr Bnurke was ailing for some time before his departure from this world, and the ! sickness at hin years warned his immediate I friends that hope was hopeless. For nearly two years wo have missed his face, but inour memory we fancy we can see him as he was

| some thirty years ago. Bright and genial, j i loveable, and loved by all. No child in those ’ days so long ago ever passed him without receiving a caress or a smile. The writer of J this, when but a little ciirly-headed boy, has . often been patted on the head and fondled whilst sitting on his knee. Mr Bourke i arrived in Auckland in 1849, and served as a ' Government officer till 1873, when he retired | lon a well-deserved pension. In addition to his various official employments in the pro- , vince of Auckland, Mr Bourke was for some I years Postmaster in Napier, and there are ! many now grown up who will remember how I he was eagerly watched for by children, who i rarely if ever* failed to secure a friendly rei cognition from the kind-hearted old gentle- ■ man. The funeral yesterday was very largely : attended, and nearly all our leading citizens j were present.