The Late Mr W. Tomlinson, B.A., F.R.A.S. From the Auckland "Star."

Te Aroha News, Volume III, Issue 139, 30 January 1886, Page 6

The Late Mr W. Tomlinson, 8.A., F.R.A.S. From the Auckland "St ar."

The news of Mr Tomlineon's tragio death at Nelson, while ' out ' shooting, produced a feeling of deep sorrow as genuine a£ jit . was widespread. In any case, the violent death of a m&n- in ;the heyday of. life and spirits, and J while innocently^ pursuing, the recreation won by a year's unremitting labour, 1 must produce a sensation- of regret"; but,\ l inMr T.pmlineon's case, the public eeutiment is deepened and 'accentuated by reason of his general popularity.- * Wherever he was known be was liked ; for his invariable geniality of disposition, his manly and unostentatious t bearing/ and' his fine sense of honour. His pupils were warmly attached to him, for he was -a kind and confideratie master, and bis fellow teachers found in him a sympathetic colleague. For the ladt" twelve years he has held the position of an assistant master at" the • Auckland College and' Grammar Beho6l, -and "throughout that long term he has been distinguished' for devotion to his scholastic ' duties. The deceased gentleman was born in Yprk about 1840, and was educated in St. Peter's: School, wherein his father, a clergy mat), acted as mathematical master. He was-de-signed for the church, 'and after com* pleting his majority, and with *» view to raking his degree he went over to Dublin, and kept half the terms at Trinity College, the rules of which institution do not necessitate the residence, which is a sine qua non to graduating at the English Universities. Just about this time the opportunity presented itself of accompanying Bishop Abraham to Wellington and taking holy orders under him, young clergymen being then in great request. Mr Tomlinson, then io his 25th year, eagerly embraced the chance, and shortly after arriving in the Empire City he went on to Wanganui. There he was persuaded to accept an assistant mastership in the large and effioient school conducted by Mr Goodwin, and the new vocation proved so congenial to his tastes, and energies that he resolved to persevere with it in preference to entering the priesthood of his church. During the unsettled times of the Maori war when the whole country was in a state of dread and unrest, Mr Tomlinson joined a local cavalry corps, and took part as a member of it in several engagements with the rebel natives, for which he duly received the New Zealand war medal. Some time after this he was appointed assistant master in Nelson College, and during his residence in that part of the colony, he married a daughter of Mr Samuel Kingdon, one of the oldest solicitors of the place. This gentleman died within the last twelve months. In 1873, Mr Tcmlinson was chosen from a large number of applicants for a vacant mastership in the Auckland College and Grammar School, then conducted by Mr Farquhar Macrae. In this new sphere of action he gave general satisfaction, made troops of friends, and thoroughly gained the love and confidence of the pupils, and as years went on his popularity increased and extended. Despite close application to the duties of his position, Mr Tomlinson gave up much of his leisure time to private study, and in 1883 he graduated B.A. of the New Zoaland University. He had previously been honoured with elec tion to Fellowship of the Royal Astronomical College. During his residence in Auckland, it has been Mr Tomlinson s custom, upon the breaking up of the school for the holidays, to take his wife and family to Neleon and epend his vacation with them there. It was in pursuance of that custom that he went there this year, and the last festive gathering he attended in Auckland was the ball held by the College Rifles, some fortnight or three weeks since, in honour of Captain Carl Schmitt. Mr Tomlinson will be greatly miseed, and his death is deplored with heartfelt regret by old and young pupils, fellow teachers, and the public of Auckland generally. The deceased gentleman 1 avcs a wife, three sons, and one daughter, tho eldest of the family being tho lad of 12, who was with him when the melancholy fatality occurred. We understand that Mrs Tomlinson and her children are left in fairly comfortable circumstances.

Inquest on the Body. Kelson, January 23. At the inquest on the body of Mr Toraligon, the son of deceased, Mr Kingdon Tomlinson, deposed : I am son of deceased. I went out with my father about 10 o'clock this morning, when father said Le was going to Bhoot sea gulls, Father took a gun with him. We saw no teagulls. We went half-way up the hill, by the stables near Stewart's. Father sat down and loaded one barrel of the gun, then pulled the trigger and fired it off towards the buoy. I was sitting beside my father. He told me to go f u rther up the hill and see if I could see any seagulls, and I went. I went some distance away, and out of sight of my father. While away I heard the report of a gun coming from the direction in which I left father. I went back sharply to where I left father, and found him in tbo same spot. I found him lying down on his right side, and he had one band on the barrels of the gun, and the barrels were pointing towards his heart. Father said nothing to me. I saw that he was shot, and be appeared to me to be dead. Cross-examined : When father told me to go and look and see if I could see any seagulls. I want to the top of the hill, where the fence is, and was away about ten minute*. — By the jury : When I saw father was shot I went home quickly, to tell them. On returniog, I went straight to where we were sitting. I did not see my father load the gun the second time. The ground was sloping where we were sitting. I did not find it slippery when walking up. — Dr. Hudson deposed : I was called at five minutes to eleven this forenoon to go and ccc Mr TomlinBon, who was eaid to have shot himself. I went to where I saw Stewart standing on the side of the hill, and there I found the body of Mr Tomlinson. He was quite dead. He was lying on his right side ; he was facing down the hill, and his feet were at a lower elevation. He was* lying obliquely. A fun was lying near him with the arrels pointing towards him,, the hammers of the gun were underneath, and the trigger upwards. A stream of blood was issuing from the deceased's chest. On examination I found a round bole in the coat and waistcoat on deceased's left side. On passing my fingers through the hole in. the .chest as far as would go, I felt the ends, of the fractured ribs. A little blood was issuing from the nostrils and mouth. The holes in the clothing were charred, "round the ' edges, showing the near discharge of the gqn, and there w»9 no aperture, of exit,. Death' must have been almost instantaneous. ," .

Daniel .Stewart deposed: I was picking up 1 fhiifc*'ln I ttiy ! B'a^#Hnis?mdifning about 10>?o'cl6oki ( wheltf I^liW^d/thfe^pbri' of a giinV '<■ rffiad*%fae'i'MaVK ; tKat < i6m6one;Had flhot a^hliree^'Be^flfi^FHe^ra'a^grbatf. i I went in 'the cUft&lfin tttft T heard tiie' repbrtof th' 4 girftj ahd^onnd^^yafaehoji 1 . !He was lying on his ri^ht side on ft steep sl6^>e : . I' noticed » double-barrelled' fi gun- • lying in front of hira.< 'Hiftea'iip^hlrfVfthouldeirs, and be appeared aaw'thej wound ; in > hia brei»flt,tbqt' made'no further examination, i I didnot<touch- the guni 1 ; I wfent tOigive information^ *he-polic^.' My, garden • was distant > about' 150 to 200 yiirds from where I found deceased, 'amd my beihg on, the top of a ladder -made rhe hoar the leport of the gun moife distinctly.