Newspaper Article 1934 – Obituary – Canon AF Williams

OBITUARY

Canon A. F. Williams

Early yesterday morning Canon Arthur Frederick Williams, of Pukehou, passed away, after a life of fruitful service, spent mostly among the Maoris of Hawke’s Bay, in a district extending from Woodville and Taupo.

He was born on April 26, 1860, at Waimate in the Bay of Islands. He was the eighth son of the late Mr E. A. [M]. Williams, formerly judge of the Native Land Court, and a grandson of Archdeacon Henry Williams, who came to the Dominion in 1823. Educated at the Church of England Grammar School at Parnell and St. John’s College, Cambridge, he took his B.A. degree in 1883 at Ridley Hall, Cambridge, and was ordained deacon in 1884, a priest a year later by the Bishop of Lichfield and was a curate at St. Luke’s, Wolverhampton, from 1884 till 1886, when he came to New Zealand and to Hawke’s Bay, where in 1919 he was made an honorary canon in the Chapter.

The late Canon Williams has been credited with much fine work among the Maoris, whom he loved, and among whom he had the reputation of being an earnest-minded man. He is survived by his wife, three sons and a daughter, to whom the district will extend every sympathy.

At a gathering of those interested in the Oxford Group at the Hastings State Theatre last night, Mr Ivan Menzies said that the late Canon Williams was an early supporter of the movement, and that the work was “a tremendous joy to him.” It was the wish of Mrs Williams that the audience should sing the hymn, “Praise God, from Whom all Blessings Flow.” The hymn was sung, and Mr Menzies made reference to the work and passing of the canon.