Robert Elliot GRIEVE [2916]

   FamilySearch ID: MS3B-8QK.

  Noted events in his life were:

1. He emigrated from Scotland to Australia on 29 November 1888.

2. He had a residence in 1901 in Te Teko, Rangitaiki, , New Zealand.

3. His obituary was published in the Bay of Plenty Beacon on 1 May 1945 in Te Teko, Rangitaiki, , New Zealand. OBITUARY

MR ROBERT E. GRIEVE

The passing of Mr Robert Elliot Grieve which took place recently has removed one of the pioneers of the Rangitaiki from a community which had for him the greatest respect and admiration.

Born seventy-six years ago at Hardwick, Scotland, the late Mr Grieve was educated at that town and received his high school training in Glasgow. As a young man he decided to migrate to Australia, and he arrived there some fifty years ago when most of the larger centres were going through transformation which later produced the modern metropolitan centres which are known today. He stayed two years there and then decided to try his luck in New Zealand.

He arrived in this country with a young wife, who was Miss Isobel Lillico of Hobart, Tasmania.

He farmed first at Taranaki where he stayed for some years at Tarata. However forty-four years ago he moved north and settled at Te Teko where he purchased 4000 acres of land and where he had such faith in the future of the Plains, which was then a wilderness that he decided to start farming in a big way. Breaking in the large area was hard work, but this land responded and soon the major section was fenced off and cleared. His success prompted him to purchase in his wife's name a further 5000 acres known as the Heaheainga block which he also proceeded to break-in and pasture.

His large holdings soon established him as one of the most successful men on the western Rangitaiki, and as the central plains were drained and consolidated he played no conspicuous part in the process of transformation. He served two terms as County Councillor, and was an active member of the early Drainage Board. Recently his holdings have been cut up into small farms but the man who pioneered the area lived to see his dreams coming true all around him.

Of a retiring nature Mr Grieve was not known by many of the later farmers of the Plains. He had however many friends amongst those who arrived here in the early days. His wife predeceased him some years ago, and although he himself had always enjoyed the best of health, her death was a noticeable blow to him. He leaves no family.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

R.E. Grieve died 9 April 1945.

Robert married Isabella LILLICO [2917] [MRIN: 4386] in 1910. (Isabella LILLICO [2917] was born in Hobart, , Tasmania, Australia.)