OBITUARY

New Zealand Tablet, 5 August 1915, Page 51

OBITUARY

MRS. BLANCHFIELD, GREYMOUTH. (By telegraph, from our own correspondent.)2?; Quite a gloom was cast over the Catholic community of Greymouth on Monday, July 26, at the very sudden death of Mrs. Annie Blanchfield, beloved wife of Mr. lat tick Blanchfield, of this town. The general sympathy of the entire community is extended to the be- : leaved husband, and family of four—the younges*t being only a week old. The deceased was a very prominent worker in all matters appertaining to the welfare of the Church, and her untiring efforts on behalf of various societies won for her the esteem and goodwill of the entire Catholic community. The funeral was attended by a large gathering of mourners from all parts of the West Coast. The members of the Hibernian Society, of which the husband was treasurer for many years, acted as pall-bearers, and headed the procession. A Requiem Mass for the repose of the soul of the deceased was celebrated in St. Patrick’s Church, and the service at the graveside was conducted by Very Rev Dean Carew.—R..l.P. MR. JAMES MOLLOY, REEFTON. .1 hei e passed away, at the residence of his daughter,. Blackball, after a short illness, a very old resident of Reef ton, in the person of James Molloy, of Church street. Hie deceased, who was a native of King’s County, Ireland, arrived in New Zealand in the year 1862. lie was one of the early pioneers of the West Coast, and in the ’seventies was engaged in general storekeeping at the Twelve Mile and also at No Town, where he was the first to sell goods. Writing of his reminiscences at the time of the jubilee celebrations in Hokitika, Mr. Molloy referred to the time when he had paid .£4 10s for a bag of oats, but had made ifp for it the next day by selling flour at the rate of T 3 10s for 501 b. At the time of the notorious Burgess-Kelly bushrangers, Mr. Molloy was one of the principal gold buyers of the district, and on one occasion, when they were lying in wait lor him, he fortunately averted his fate by taking a boat down the river instead of following the track as lie had intended. This was three days after the murder of Dobson, and in the confession of Burgess later, he stated, ' Verily, we were the murderers of Fox and Molloy in intent.’ At the time of the Old Man flood, Mr. Molloy suffered considerable loss, having his stores swept away and the whole of his stock lost. After this he took up his residence in Reefton, where he was engaged as road and bridge contractor for a great many years. Since the earliest days of Reefton, Mi Molloy had never been missing from his post at the taking of the census and also acting as returning officer at the various elections. A man of wide reading, he was a staunch supporter of the Church, a keen politician, and a true patriot. llis wife predeceased, him some eighteen years ago. He leaves a family of four daughters to mourn the loss of a devoted father—Mrs. T. Kinsella (Blackball), Mrs. Staples, and Miss A. Molloy (Rotorua), and Miss N. Molloy (Wanganui).-