Pemble Obituary
DEATH OF MR. WILLIAM PEMBLE
A HIGHLY ESTEEMED CITIZEN.
Great Southern Herald
5 August 1931 – P3
The sudden death of Mr. William Pemble, which occurred on Friday evening last, removed from our midst one of the most highly respected townsmen and pioneers of the district.
Mr. Pemble, accompanied by his wife, had paid a call to their friend, Mrs. D. Beard, and while engaged in conversation in front of a fire, he was observed suddenly to lapse into unconsciousness. Medical aid was summoned immediately, but the patient failed to rally, death occurring within fifteen minutes of the first symptoms of collapse.
Deceased was a son of the late Mr. Henry Pemble, of Sussex, England, and was born at Ballan, Victoria in the year I860. He was educated at the Watervale Grammar School, South Australia, and after three years’ service with a wheat buying firm, he migrated to Western Australia. On arrival at Albany, he accepted a position as under-manager on the stations owned by Messrs. Hassell Brothers. After gaining five years’ experience at sheep and general farming, resolved to launch out on his own.
Coming to Katanning, he purchased from the West Australian Land Company the property which he owned at the time of his death, and opened business as a general commission agent and auctioneer.
After five years he joined a prospecting party and was one of the pioneers of the Mount Margaret District where, however, he met with scant success. Returning to Katanning, he concentrated upon his own property adjoining the town and engaged in grazing and agriculture, which occupation engaged his activities during the remainder of his life.
Always interested in public affairs, Mr. Pemble was one of the founders of the Farmers’ Association, the forerunner of the Primary Producers’ Association, and was president of that body for three successive years. He was a foundation member of the Katanning Agricultural Society and was instrumental in bringing about the merger with the Broomehill society and the inauguration of one of the finest shows on the Great Southern Railway.
Mr. Pemble served on the Katanning Road Board for a number of years in various executive capacities, was one of the original trustees of the local Mechanics’ Institute, and was a member of the Licensing Bench of the Katanning Magisterial District for a considerable period.
His public spiritedness received recognition from the James Government which, in 1903, granted him his commission of Justice of Peace.
Mr. Pemble was a loyal adherent of St. Andrew’s Anglican Church, of which he had been a member practically since its inception. He held office of Lay Reader, People’s Warden, Vestryman and a Member of Synod. Both in private and in his public life he was universally respected as a true gentleman whose honesty of purpose and irreproachable conduct won the respect and esteem, of his fellow citizens.
His first wife predeceased him some years ago and, in 1929, he married Miss Evelyn Hoglin, second daughter of Mr. Alfred Hoglin, of Katanning, who survives him. An only son, Claude, of the first marriage, died on active service in 1916 during the Great War.
The funeral took place on Sunday afternoon, commencing with a brief service conducted by the Rev. Canon Watson at St. Andrew’s Church which was filled with relatives and friends of deceased. At the conclusion of the service the cortege moved to the Katanning Cemetery, his remains being laid to rest in the Anglican portion, where the Rev. Canon Watson again officiated.
The funeral was largely attended and many beautiful wreaths and floral tributes were placed on the graveside by sympathisers and friends. Pallbearers were Messrs. A. E. Piesse, M.L.A., W. E. Richmond, J. C. Warren, R. Cobham, F. A. Rogers and John Barkley. Mr. J. Squiers, funeral director, attended to the mortuary arrangements.
Pemble Obituary. Pemble Obituary.
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