Death of Mr T.W. Parker.
Mr Thomas Windle Parker, who died early this morning, was born in 1812, near London. He arrived in Tasmania when a young man, and took up a station there. Shortly afterwards he went to Victoria, where he also embarked in pastoral pursuits. Having come to this colony on the opening of the goldfields in Otago, and having been Warden and receiver of gold at Tuapeka, he arrived in this district in 1861 and became manager for Messrs Borton and McMaster. In the same year he was installed as Resident Magistrate of this district, which position he held from 1861 to 1881 with marked success and to the satisfaction of the community, notwithstanding the difficulties which appertain to the fulfilment of the duties of such a position, even under the most favorable circumstances. But failing health compelled his retirement into a life of absolute quietude, and from the day he left the Bench till he died this morning Mr Parker was unable to devote his mind to any public matters. In his day, however, he had lived a useful and active life. When this settlement was in its infancy he was, amongst other things, a lay preacher, a member of the Committee of the North Otago Agricultural and Pastoral Association when it was first established, Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages, and sub Collector of Customs and licensing officer under the Arms Act. Mr Parker was universally liked and deeply respected. He was noted fur his straighforwardness, his liberal and just ideas, the reliability of his word, and his true gentility. His life was, indeed, fall of useful lessons to those whom he has left behind. -Oamaru Mail, 18/11/1898.
MR THOMAS WINDLE PARKER.
TO THE EDITOR.
Oh death, how sweet the thought That this world's strife is ended,
That all we feared, and all we sought, In one deep sleep are blended. — Dean Stanley.
Sir, — Another worthy man has gone to his long rest; another early settler has "crossed the bar." All the old residents will miss him as a land mark, and honor his memory, for he was a truly good man, and won the respect of all — even of those who were taken before him for some breach of the law. I do not think that the age given in your Saturday's issue is correct, for I have a memorandum which states that he was born in London in 1809, which would make him 89 years of age. I think he told me that date himself. He sailed for the colonies in 1838. He was a runholder in Australia, having a sheep run in the Goulbourn district, Victoria; in partnership with Mr Manley, which they sold to Mr Fred Bicknell (now of Oamaru) in 1855. He came over to Otago in 1858. Your obituary is wrong in stating that he was manager on Messrs Borton and M'caster's run after leaving Tuapeka. It was before he went to Tuapeka. I remember he was manager for them in 1860 anyway. He was gazetted Gold Receivor at Tuapeka 24th July, 1861, and on 24th August in the same year was appointed clerk to the Resident Magistrate at Tuapeka. (You will find these appointments on page 234 of the Otago Provincial Gazette for 1861.) He was gazetted Resident Magistrate at Oamaru on 7th October, 1861 (see page 291 of the same gazette), and Mr Joseph Barnes Borton, brother of Mr John Borton, of Waitaki, took his place at Tuapeka. Although appointed Resident Magistrate on 7th October, he did not arrive in Oamaru till 28th November, and it was not till the 18th December that he sat for the first time on the Oamaru Bench. He was not the first Resident Magistrate at Oamaru; Alfred Chetham Strode having been appointed temporarily, arrived in Oamaru on 11th May, 1861. Mr Parker occupied the position most worthily for over 19 years, and much to the regret of the public and his friends, he retired voluntarily on 26th May, 1881, his increasing deafness being the principal cause. The very excellent life-size portrait which was presented to him when he left the Bench was painted by our late local artist, Mr Edward Gifford, M.A., and is a fitting ornament to the wall of the Courthouse that Mr Parker so long graced, and meted out justice in a manner highly to his credit, where, if failing he had, it was an ardent desire to temper his judgments with mercy and leniency.
There vas no Courthouse in Oamaru when Mr Parker arrived. The contract to build the first one was let on 15th May, 1862, to George Gammell and Co., the price being L899 10s; but it was not finished till near the end of the year. It served its purpose for over ten years, the new Courthouse being opened for the transaction of business on Monday, 7th May, 1883. The now Courthouse was designed by Messrs. Forrester and Lemon, architects, and built by Messrs J. Kay und Co., at the contract price of L2964. Mr Parker held a Magistrate's Court at Hampden during 1866, riding there on horseback every Wednesday morning. As the roads were unformed, and in wet weather in bad order, the distance — 24 miles — was too far to enable him to reach his destination by 11 o'clock with one horse, he therefore rode one and led a second as far as Herbert, where he stabled the horse he had ridden, and mounting the led horse, hurried on. In addition to the magistracy, his duties were multifarious. He was appointed Registrar of births, marriages, and deaths on 5th April, 1862, and coroner on 28th August following. On the 22nd October, 1863, Sir George Grey appointed the Port of Oamaru a warehousing port for the purpose of the Customs Regulation Act, 1858, and gave Mr Parker the duties of Collector of Customs and licensing Officer under the Arms Act 1860. He was also chairman of the Licensing Committee, Registration Officer, Returning Officer, and Immigration Officer.
Besides his appointments under Government, he assisted as a private citizen in every good work, and did all he could for the advancement of the young but thriving town and district. He relieved Mr Charles Traill and Mr W. G. Filleul of their Sunday duties as lay-roaders to the Anglican congregation, and his services were well attended and acceptable, not only to his co-religionists, but to those of other denominations, until the arrival of the Rev. S. D. Green, who preached his first sermon in Oamaru in January, 1862, in Mr Hassell's wool store. Mr Green was, moreover, frequently absent on mission duty, and finally left Oamaru on 29th June, 1862, and Mr Parker acted as lay-reader till the Rev. Algernon Gifford came in July, 1802.
When the Northern Agricultural and Pastoral Association was formed at Oamaru, on 5th March, 1863, Mr Parker was one of the first members of the committee, and obligingly acted as honorary interim secretary. He was president of the First Building Society in 1864. In January, 1880, he was appointed trustee of the Oamaru drill shed, and of the Hospital reserves. He was generous and benevolent, and did many a kindness which is not recorded in history, for he was carefully unostentatious in all his actions and sympathies. "To live in hearts we leave behind, is not to die." — I am, etc,
W. H. S. ROBERTS. -North Otago Times, 21/11/1898.
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