DEATH OF MR HENRY SANSON.

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XXXIV, Issue 9352, 22 January 1909, Page 4

DEATH OF MR HENRY SANSON.

Per Press Association. Wellington, January 21. Mr Henry Sanson, one of the pioneers of settlement in Manawatu, died in Wellington last night, aged 74. He was the founder of the first Small Farms Association in Manawatu, and prominently associated with local bodies in that district. He was also a leading figure in Methodist circles. (Halcombe correspondent.) The news of the sudden death of Mr Henry Sanson was received here yesterday. The wire from Wellington intimated that he passed away peacefully in sleep, on the night of the 20th inst. That his death was quite unexpected is shown by the fact that he had arranged to be here with us on the morning of the 23rd. That yonr Halcombe correspondent’s household was saddened by the reception of I,that telegram will be anderstood thy yonr readers when they arejjinformed that his wife is the only daughter of the deceased gentleman, and I must ask to be excused [from writing all I feel m the circumstances, and leave it to others to speak of deceased’s character, work, and worth. However, the facts at my disposal may prove of interest to those who remember the old days and all they mean to this generation. Mr Sanson with his parents came to this country in the good ship Tyne, and landed in Wellington 67 years ago. In 1«52 he went to the Victorian diggings. The trip from Wellington to Williamstown occupied 32 days. The best of his finds in Australia was the wife who after 53 years of an ideal married life is now left to mourn her loss. Returning to New Zealand the young married couple I went to live at the Hutt. Here Mr Sanson took a leading part in securing “The Sandon Small Farm Block,” and in 1872 he and his family moved to that district; his fellow settlers naming the township Sanson in recognition of his services. Mr Sanson was a J.P., and a member of |the Wanganui Education Board from its inception till about eight years ago, when upon leaving the district for Wellington he resigned that position. Besides his widow the deceased leaves a sister (Mrs Tocker) two brothers, S. and W. Sanson; three sons, Henry, Johrr and Herbert, and a daughter, Mrs A, O. Bnrcbam, to mourn their loss; The deceased was 72 years of age last month.