OBITUARY. Henry Shafto Harrison, aged 82;
Yesterday morning another old and respected pioneer colonist passed peacefully to his rest, after a residence of half a century in this district. Tho deceased gentleman was widely known and greatly respected by all with whom ho was brought in contact, as he was in splendid specimen of that almost extinct type of "fine old English gentleman" of whom the people of England were so justly proud. Mr Harrison was born in Yorkshire, where the family still possess an estate, in 1810, and came by the Bolton to New Zealand in 1840, after having graduated at Cambridge. Soon after his arrival in the colony he came to Wanganui, where he purchased what was afterwards known as the "Hair Estate" on St. John's Hill, where he lived until driven off by the Maoris in 1847. He subsequently purchased the property now known as Warrengate, near Fordell, on which he continued to reside until increasing years made it necessary for him to dwell in town. As a pioneer settler, Mr Harrison bore his full share of the heat and burden of the day, serving his fellow settlers both in the field and in the senate as occasion required, holding for many years a commission as Captain of the New Zealand Militia during the time of the Maori wars. He was also for years a member of the Provincial Council of Wellington, and the first elected representative of Wanganui in the New Zealand Parliament, in which latter he was succeeded by Mr John Bryce. Mr Harrison was an enthusiastic lover of English sport, and bred and raced many fine specimens of the thorough-bred horse during the early days of the settlement thus helping largely to make Wanganui what it is as a racing centre. He was chief among those who first introduced horse racing here and was to the day of his death an ardent supporter of the "Sport of Kings," rarely missing a meeting of the Wanganui Jockey Club of which he was its first and only President. Many will miss and regret his absence from future race meetings. Mr Harrison was one of the oldest Masons in the colony, if not the oldest, and took a lively interest in all that concerned the craft, of which he was a very worthy and greatly venerated member. The deceased gentleman, who was twice married, leaves a widow and two sons and four daughters to mourn their loss, of these Mrs Henry N. Harrison, Mrs James W. Baker, Mrs A. Wicksteed and Miss A. Harrison were born of the first marriage and Mr Fletcher Harrison and Mrs Chamberlain of the second. The funeral which will take place at 2 o'clock to-morrow afternoon will be, no doubt, largely attended, as the deceased gentlemen was one of those kindly men whom it is a privilege to know, and a great pleasure to hold converse with. We understand that he is to be accorded a Masonic interment and that there will be a full attendance of the craft to do honour to so respected and revered a Brother Mason whose death though not unexpected, has caused such general and genuine regret among all classes of the community. Although in infirm health, owing to the shock to his system caused by a bad attack of bronchitis last winter, the deceased was able to be about until the last few days, when he stated that he knew his time was short and that he was ready to obey the call when it came. When it did, he was sleeping peacefully and never awoke again in this world, from which he passed full of years and beloved and respected by all who knew him.— Requiescant in pace (R.I.P.) (Wanganui Herald, July 4, 1882).