PERSONAL.

Taranaki Daily News, 4 June 1920, Page 4

PERSONAL.

Mr. B. Collins, second engineer on the steamer Rimu, who is wfell known in New Plymouth, has been appointed second engineer on the Harborl Board's dredge Paritutu. , G. W. Christian, vicar of Lower Riccarton (Christchurch) has resigned from the charge which he has held for raven years. The funeral of the late Mrs. J. B. Lawson took place nt New Plymouth yesterday morning, Mrs. Lawson was a daughter of the late Mr.' Thomas Bayly, senr. She was born in the parish of Clawton, Devonshire, and came out to New Plymouth when four years old with her parents and other members of the family in the Amelia Thompson, arriving here on September. 3, 1841. She was predeceased by her bujsband by several years. Mr. William Fortescue, of Picton, celebrated his 103 rd birthday on Monday week-. He was tho recipient of many felicitations on tho record achieved, and upon being in such an excellent condition of health. Mr. Fortescue arrived in New Zealand in 1840, landing at Petone, where he acted as storekeeper for the New Zealand Land Co. Later on he went to Marlborough, arriving just after the Wairau massacre. He joined the throng at Gabriel's Gully al the time of the rush, and followed the golden vein, particularly at Mahakipawa, until recent years. Upon being presented to H.R.H. the Prince of Wnlefc at Picton recently,, the lively old man remarked: "Yes, I remember your father, your grandfather, and your great-grandfather, too; and I also lived in the reign of George III." . Captain Henry Fisk, one of the bestknown coastal masters in New Zealand, died at Wellington on Tuesday night, at the age of 78 years. Captain Fisk was born at AVoodbridge, Suffolk, in 1542, and served his time on the barque Emily, which was engaged in the Mediterranean and Baltic trade. During the Civil War he was trading on the American coast and to the West Indies. In 1890 he received the appointment of pilot for tho New Zealand coast, and for many years was stationed at the Wairau bar. Captain Fisk was known from one end of New Zealand to the other. He leaves a widow and a grownup family, tho members of which are: Captain Arthur H. Fisk (of the s.s. Waitangi), Messrs F. Fisk (Customs service), Isaac Fisk (engineer for the Napier Borough Council), Henry Fisk (General Post Office), Wilson Fisk'(Wellington),. Napier Fisk (Levin & Co., Blenheim), and Mesdames Ferner (Blenheim) and Wilkinson (Wellington). In the death of Mrs. M. A. Williams, which took place at Wellington on Wednesday, Wellington loses one of its best-known and most respected citizens. It was on Tuesday that her 91st birthday had been celebrated. She was the I founder of the Sailors' Institute, and she donated the land and building now known as the Sailors' Friend Society Institute as a memorial to her late husband, Captain W. R. Williams. The Y.M.CA., the Salvation Army, and many othfer institutions benefited by her liberality. For herself, r «he rigidly denied all luxuries, but what* she denied to herself she gave to others. The deceased lady was a native of Dorset, England, and arrived in the Dominion between 50 and CO years ago. Mrs. Williams is survived by three granddaughters and one grandson, the family of Jier daughter-in-law, Mrs. J. H- Williams, and her only son, the late Mr. 3. H. Williams. The death of Mrs. Mary Perry, which took place at the residence of Mr. T- G. Sole, Courtenay Street, New Plymouth, yesterday morning, removes another of the early pioneers of the district. The deceased lady was born in Meary, near Plymouth, England, and came to New Zealand with her parents when only five years of age, in the Oriental, a vessel of 600 tons, arriving off New Plymouth on November 7, 1841. She had resided in New Plymouth continuously up to the timorof her death. She was married to Mr. Wm. Perry, eldest son of Mr, and Mrs. John Perry, who were also amongst the early settlers in the district. They endured all the hardships incident to the period of the Maori war, and Mr. Perry subsequently succumbed to disease contracted during the campaign. To the late Mrs, Perry, therefore, was left the responsibility of bringing up and educating the five young children with whom she had been left, and she faced this task with that fortitude and courage which were so characteristic of the pioneers of the country. She was of a quiet and unassuming nature, noted for her industry, self-denial, and love of home life, and her passing will leave a blank in the family circle and amongst a wide circle of friends and acquaintances. Her children still surviving are Mrs. T. C. Sole, Mrs. W. Foote, Mrs. Matson, and Mr. W. Perry.