OBITUARY.

Taranaki Daily News, 29 December 1915, Page 7

OBITUARY.

ME. C. C. GRAHAM. Dunedin, December 27. Mr. C. C. Graham, ex-Official Assignee and Stipendiary Magistrate, died this afternoon. He represented Oamani in the House of Representatives from 1800 till 1872. Charles Christie Graham was one of the very early colonists of New Zealand, and he had in his long term of residence in the Dominion filled many and important, positions. He was born at Coupar, Fife, Scotland, in 1835, and was educated at Madras College, St. Andrew's, and Edinburgh University. He came out to Melbourne in 1855,' and in 1860 came to New Zealand, having in the meantime married the daughter of Major-General Thomas Wel)9ter,"of Fifeshire, Scotland. He settled in Otago, and in 18fifl was elected a member of the Council of the University of Otago, having previously been made a Justiee'of the Peace of New Zealand. In 1870 he was elected a member of the House of Representatives for Oiimani. About this time Mr. Graham removed his home to Wellington, and in 1572 he was elected a member of the Wellington Provincial Council, of which he was made, Chairman of Committees. In the same year he became a member if the Wellington Education Board, and was afterwards chairman for a few years of that bodv. In 1877 Mr. Graham left for a time the arena of general polities, and entered the service of the Wellington City Council as Town Clerk. This office he'vacated some years later, and in 1882 he was appointed Official Assignee in Bankruptcy, and in 189!) was promoted to the magistracy. Shortly after this his association with Wellington ceased, and he removed to Dunedin, where he occupied the position of-Magistrate for many years, and of Coroner up till the time of'his death. Mr. Graham was a man who in his official life made many friends and few enemies. He was closely connected with the Anglican Church, and since 1001 was Chancellor of the Diocese of Dunedin.

A WELLINGTON PIONEER. Wellington, Dec. 27. The death of Mr. E. W. Petherick, one of the very oldest residents of this city, occurred at the residence of his son-in-law, Mr. William Nicol, at Belmont, on Christmas Day. The fact that the deceased gentleman was born in the year 1840, the year that the first of the JTew Zealand Land Company's settlers arrived, and that he was born in Petone (belore the settlers removed to the present site of Wellington City) is evidence that Mr. Petherick was one of the first white men born in the Wellington district. He lived to see Wellington grow from a mere village into a thriving city, and was properly proud of being one of those who had practically assisted in the making of the place. As a young man, Mr. Petherick followed the trade of a builder and whilst so employed took part in the rush to the Otago diggings in the sixties. In later years he busied himself with architectural work, and the Baptist, Methodist, and Congregational communities have to thank him for services gratuitously given on several occasions in the building of their churches in this oity. Mr. Petherick was a member ol the Vivian Street Baptist Church, of which he wis & deacon for many years. All his life Mr. Petherick had been a student of natural history, and for many years he had stored away in special rooms in his residence a very fine coition of stuffed animals, reotiles. and

birds, and a valuable lot of curios. The whole collection he presented to the city, and, being accepted, it was the nucleus of the present Newtown Museum. In character, Mr. Petherick was quiet, unostentatious, and kindly, ever ready to do a good action, and never seeking thanks or publicity. He was a man of sterling honesty and integrity, and was held in the highest esteem by those who knew him. The deceased, who was twice married, leaves a family of six sons and four daughters.