Richards, Thomas

The death is announced of Mr. Thomas Richards, for the last 21 years parish clerk and bellringer at St. Peter's Church, which occurred this, morning. Deceased was a native of Kent, and was born in 1833. He served an apprenticeship in London as a cabinetmaker and joiner, and on the outbreak of the Crimea war enlisted in the Royal Engineers, and went through all the hardships of the great campaign. He arrived in this colony in the ship Caroline in 1875, Nelson being the port where he landed with his family of five daughters and one son. Mr. Richards was an authority on campanology, being a member of the College Youth Society of Bellringers, London, and his advice was much sought after in connection with bell-hanging and bell- ringing. For many years he was a member of the Wellington Guards, and at the time of his death he was on the reserve list. His family, however, do not wish for a military funeral, and he will accordingly be buried quietly at Karori tomorrow afternoon, a short service being held in St. Peter's Church on the way to the cemetery.

Evening Post, Volume LXII, Issue 148, 19 December 1901, Page 4