DEATH.
We have the melancholy duty to perform of recording the demise of P. Proudfoot, Esq., Chief Commissioner and Treasurer of the Waste Lands Board, which took place at his residence in Dunedin at half-past ten o'clock on Wednesday evening last. Mr. Proudfoot's state of health for a long time past had been such as to afford his friends no hope of his ultimate recovery; but the closing scene was more rapid than was anticipated, and his death has taken the public almost by surprise. We understand that Mr. Proudfoot, up to a few hours before his death, was engaged in the duties of his office, the close attention to which, it is believed, tended to accelerate his end. -Otago Witness, 17/10/1857.
The lamented death of Mr. Proudfoot has caused a vacancy in the representation of the Eastern District, and a new Writ has been issued. It is to be regretted that more time could not be spared in this matter; but the Constitution Act requires that on a vacancy occurring, the Superintendent shall forthwith issue a Writ; and as the return cannot be made before fourteen days, any delay in issuing the Writ would have prevented a new member from taking a seat in the Council during the ensuing session. -Otago Witness, 17/10/1857.
PROVINCIAL COUNCIL. Wednesday, October 28, 1857.
The Provincial Council, which stood prorogued from the 11th December, met on Wednesday, the 28th inst, at 12 o'clock. Present — The Speaker, Messrs. Young, Cargill, Purdie, Williams, Bennie, Kilgour, Mansford, Burns, Stevenson, Hepburn, McGlashan, and Cutten. Members absent — Mr. Harris, from inposition; Mr. Reynolds, in England; Messrs. Shaw Anderson, and Martin.
His Honor the Superintendent having entered the Hall, proceeded to deliver the following
ADDRESS.
Gentlemen — lt seems fitting on the present occasion that I should express to you, at the outset, my deep sense of loss to the public, and to this House, by the decease of Mr. Proudfoot. His bodily strength had been visibly wasting away, but his mind was entire and active to the last, so that when chiefly confined to his room, and his voice all but gone, his personal duties, and the close supervision of his assistants and clerks, were fully and effectively maintained, and it has been well said he literally died in harness. The loss of a public man, so remarkable for integrity and singular truthfulness of character, is no ordinary case, and when it is considered that his unremitting assiduity must no doubt have hastened his decease, there is a further call for expressions of sympathy with his bereaved family; nor is it to be omitted, as cause of thankfulness and encouragement to all who knew him, that he departed from us in the full peace and love of the Saviour. -Otago Witness, 31/10/1857.
Peter Proudfoot's remains in the Arthur Street Cemetery, are joined by his father, James, and his brother, George McRitchie, who died at the relatively young age of 32, from illness.
Arthur Street Cemetery, Dunedin.
No comments:
Post a Comment