LATE MR. CLEMENTS

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 156, 22 September 1927, Page 9

LATE MR. CLEMENTS

60 YEARS IN PROVINCE A highly respected resident of Auckland, Air, Archibald Clements, died at his home, Birdwood Crescent, Parnell, yesterday, at the age of 91. Born at Keadue, County Roscommon, Ireland, Mr. Clements, after a period at Mohill, entered the service of a Londonderry house, and rose to the position of manager, holding that post for eight years. Reports from the Victorian goldfields attracted the young man, and he arrived in Alelbourne in 1861. The news of the finding of gold in New Zealand reached him, and he decided to try his luck in this country. After pegging out several claims in Otago without much success, he came to Auckland in 1863.

The Alaori War in the Waikato was in progress, and within 24 hours of his arrival Air. Clements joined the Third Waikato Militia, afterwards transferring to the commissariat transport corps. He was wounded in the thigh in one engagement, and his name is on the list of New Zealand war medallists.

At the end of the war Air. Clements settled in Cambridge, being in business as a general storekeeper, and remained there for 28 years. During that period he also carried on an extensive business at the Thames goldfields. A member of the first road board in Cambridge, he was also one of its early mayors, and was a member of the Waikato Hospital Board. He came to Auckland about 1891, and ever since has lived at Parnell. Air. Clements was instrumental in carrying out a settlement scheme of bringing out from Ireland about 50 young men and women, many of whom have ranked among the Dominions most prosperous settlers. One of the senior trusteees of the Auckland Savings Bank for many years, the deceased was also a trustee of the Knox Home for Incurables, having been a lifelong friend of the late Mrs. Elizabeth Knox, whose bequest enabled the foundation of that institution. When the Grey Government took office in 1877 Air. Clements and the late Air. Andrew Dilworth were -he first two local justices appointed to the Commission of Peace.' Mrs. Clements, who was a daughter of the late Air. William Rose, Ballinlee, County Longford, Ireland, predeceased her husband 13 years ago. There is one daughter.