MAJOR HAVILAND.

Temuka Leader, Issue 364, 17 March 1881, Page 2

MAJOR HAVILAND.

The funeral of this gallant officer, whose name was honoured in the British army alike by the Commander-In-Chief and the private soldier took place recently at Saltford. The son of a captain in the Queen’s Bays, the deceased w» a born in Romford Barracks, in OcfSher, 1796, and after the death of bis father he entered, the army as a private soldier, at .the age of. sixteen, and with that indomitable zeal and energy which characterised him thioughout his career, he worked his way through all the subordinate ranks in the 2nd Dragoon Guards, till in 1852.. he gained a captaincy, .and for, six, ‘ years was Captain and Adjutant in the? - North Somerset Yeomanry. Cavalry, 1 which be left in the hope of seeing active service with the Queen’s Bays in Indfa, hut being disappointed in this, he took the captaincy of the Queen Charlton troop of Yeomanry. Alter being in 1867 gazetted captain in the 2nd West. India Regiment, and retiring on full pay with the rank of major, bo was appointed major in the North Somerset Yeomanry when within a month of his 84th birthday, after receiving injuries through being thrown from a restive horse while on duty with his regiment. 1 To the last, however, he retained hi* remarkable activity of mind and body, and within a few hours ot his death he left his bed and wrote a letter to a friend. His chivalrous disposition and genial buoyancy of spirit had endeared him to all who knew him. When in “ Tho Bays,” he was popularly styled “The Father of the regiment and his popularity with the North Somerset Regiment Yeomanry, and particularly with the members of the Queen Charlton troop, with whom ho was more closely associated, was such as -ti only attained by few men, either in military or. social circles. Year afterjear the troop, on their way to their eight days’ permanent, drill at Bath, never passed “ The Villa’* at Saltford without being hospitably entertained at luncheon. This generosity of disposition was one of the leadingtraits of his chafact -f ; to any needinghelp in his own neighbourhood he was: always a kind friend ; and of him it might be said that, to the extent of the means at his command, hi« ever open door ’ >

Obliged the wealthy, and relieved the poor.' It was in Saltf6rd chureh that .-.theburial service was read over his remains,, the interment being in the small church-; yard adjoining. Despite the continued rainfall, there wore between three arid four hundred persons present, and lit consonance with the wishes of Lord Cork (the colonel of the North Somerset Yeomanry), the deceased wss buried with full military honors. The noble lord was unable to be present, but a letter was read from him expressing a hope that the Yeomanry would do all honour to the - memory of the gallant Major. The: Queen - Charlton troop assembled almost to a man; there being .35 troovers present, besides the officers —Captain Ford, Lieut. Ford, with Quarter-master Gullifer, Sergt,-Mijor Kelly, and Sergt. Stephens- The Bath troop, was, represented by Sergt.-Major Booth,' Quarter-master Pinkett, Quarter-raaster-Sorgt. Virgin, and several troopers ,* -and theaton Easton troop byCaptain Hippisley, Lieut. Kemble, Sergt.-Major Sinton, <fec. Captain Geo. S. Tricks’a C Company (Koynshara). of the Ist Battalion Somerset Rifle Volunteers assembled 50 string to

S.ergjfc... 011 is ,: -. : Sergt. • BeisUm,- and \Serg t. ' Dowzellj. they jiivraiM, under Captain Tricks and Bout. v\ ard, at ths • Saltford "Railway station, and mare bed down to the village at one o’cloc fc- The battalion Band also attend. *d. Amongst others were several who ha 4 known the late major many years, a od some whc had served under him in 1 he Queen’s Bays. Mr. Salter, late of tl te 11th Hussars ; Sergt.-Major Haylor, late of the Queen’s Bays ; C« »x , late of the Queen’s Bays, CShohad i served U years in the 2nd dragoon Canards while Major Haviland was in tha t regiment ; Mr. St. John who was a private in the Queen s Bays 61 years a« ?o, when the deceased was lance-corpor. al in the regiment ;_Serg . ' Foxwell, of the Yeomanry; Bence, of Bee chen Cliff, Bach, &c The funeral arrang ‘ements were carried out hy Mr. J. Bel'sten, of Keynsham. dhe distance from the deceased s residence to the Church; is '•about a quarter of a mile. The Yeomanry, in full dress, with helmets and’ plumes, and the Rifle Volunteers,. having ranks and

lined the roadway, the funeralprocession was formed between one and First camf the Rev. W. C. Welsfofdlate recto> of Saltford, followed hy the firing pa 1 ' cj, carrying their arms reversed, and cod' .isting of the first half-company of the/Rifle Volunteers, 25 rank and file, lender command of Captain - Tricks. Then came the battalion band, playing the flead March in “ Saul.” The coffin cohered with a deep pall of black velvet, edged with bullion fringe, had placed - u pon it deceased’s helmet and sword, ,'and a chaplet r of white flowers and delicate ferns. Following the coffin were / the mourners—Mr. Harford Lyne, J. P., Mr. George Fox (firm of Messrs. Pox and Whittuck), Colonel Bythesea (of Bath). Major Tomlin, late of the Queen's Bays (2nd Dragoon Guards), and now captain and adjutant of the West Somerset Yeomanry ; Mr. Bidimead. of Bath, nephew of deceased ; and Mr Fred Irwin, of Bristol, an intimate friend of the late major. These having passed through the open ranks of the Yeomanry and Rifle . Volunteers, the latter closed ranks aud followed, mrking quite a long processsinn, brought i up by the second division of the Rifle Volunteers, and the officers. jThe roadway was crowded with spectators as the precession made its way to the Church, the sad, wailings strains of the Dead March, played with marked expression by the band, producing a deep impression upm all present. In the church grounds the firing party opened ranks for the hearers with the coffin and the mourners to pass into the church. Scarcely had the saddening drains of the march played by the band died away before they were taken up by the organist within the church, and continued while the coffin was being placed in the 'figditra of the nave, and the mourners 'gathered,"- The church was cl&borotely " dressed with wreaths of greenery ,for the Christmas festival, and same of the bright designs contrasted strangely with the funeral scene, The service in the church was conducted by Rev. E. W, Fenwick, the rector, who read the opening sentences, and the Rev. J. J. Scott, the curate, who read the remainder. The Rev. J. H. Gray, vicar of Keynsham, was also present. When the procession was leaving the church the organist, Mr. Uriah Moore, again played the Dead March very effectively. The service was continued at the gravq, into the “ silent calm” of which were deposited the remains of one whom all present had known only to love and esteem. The mourners then withdrew some distance, the crowd who had gathered closely round stepped back, and the firing party forming up fired three volleys over the grave ; and the procession, re-forming, left the churchyard, the band playing the wellknown and inspiriting air, “ Onward, Christian Soldiers.”