THE FUNERAL OF THE LATE MR RICHARD PARKER.

Waikato Times, Volume X, Issue 845, 15 November 1877, Page 3

THE FUNERAL OF THE LATE MR RICHARD PARKER.

The remains of the deceased pfentleman were .consigned to thetr'laSf resting place on Tuesday, in , tb^ pretty little Chnrch-yard at' .Te, Awamntu. Short as the notice was;: and there must have been many ahouse in Waikato to ! Which. th6 l intelligence of the ' death 'of &£, Parker had not reached tUI late on Tuesday morning, there was ti lkrge^ muster of settlers in Te Awamutu before noon, to take p«irfc in the funeral obspquies. Every distnet^ was fully represented, and tqore than' four hundred settlers on horse-back or in vehicles, independently ot a, large number of the OaValry'Volutiteers (the late Mr Parker held the" rank of Lieutenant in the Cambridge troop) followed the corpse to the grave. Precisely at one o'clock the funeral cortege took its departure from the house of; Majqr Jackson/ where deceased had died r a 'firing' party chojjgs. from deceased's 'I'pwn troop foiling the adyancQ, uiwith arms reversed, followed - ; by > the hearse, which w»s immediately, ceded by the officiating priests, the JReverends L. Brady^, of'Te AVri- ! iriutu, and W. Oaldev, of J^afco^ltpn. On the coffin were the 1 swprxj, ucap and accuntremehts of deceased;. Next followed then Te ? Awa'nl\itii' troop, under command' J ofjMAJ&r^ Jackson, and after them' the" remainder of the Cambridge, trqtjpj in command of Captain James , Runciman, and, in rear of all, thegeneraV public. Arrived at the Church-; yard gate in Te Awnmutu, the Cavalry Volunteers (on foot) formed 1 double line, through which the cbffinwas carried into the church, where the first portion of the service ; was read from the altar, the psalm, by the JEtev, L.. Brady, and the lesson by the Eev. W. Calder. At'thb 3 close of the benediction, the firing party formed round the grave, and j under command of Sergt.vMajor Eraser, fired three volleys over.it, and the ceremony was finished. It is seldom we have seen, a funeral where so mush feeling from so widely gathered an assembly was manifested. That the late . Mr Parker, was widely beloved^ W6's plainly to be seen from the tears coursing down many a tnanly oheek,' while' in more than one ; direction, that most sorrowful of all sounds; the broken sobbing of strong men strnggling with the emotion which overcame them, could be heard. The sudden death of one who a J short time since was in the prime^f health and life, arid who took so forward a position in every public movement in the Waik;ijo, has thrown a gloom over tlfe whole district. The funeral was the first which has taken place of a member of the cavalry force during the eleven years it has been establisht-d and very few members of the troop were ahsent. In addition to these, there must have been 'full . four hundred settlers present.