Lehmann Henschke - Person Sheet
NamePITMAN, Frank
Birth7 Mar 1875, Wiltshire, England421
Burial11 Jun 1943, Centennial Park Cemetery, Pasadena, SA425,2,420
Obituary
Quorn Mercury (SA : 1895 - 1954) Fri 2 Jul 1943
1237 The Late Mr. Frank
Pitman.
One of the best known personalities
in the country newspap
er businessin the North passed away whenMr Frank Pitman died at his home,Unley on June 10th. The deceasedwas the son of the late Albert andSarah Pitman, and was born at Warminster,England, over 68 years ago.At the age of 9 years he accompaniedhis parents and family as immigrantsto Australia. They travelledin the sailing vessel, "Romsdale," andthe whole passage from England wasunusually stormy, the ship takingfour months to reach Port Adelaide,and had been given up for lost. The"Romsdale" was loaded with settlersfor South Australia, and these peopletravelled under the exceedinglycrude and rough conditions thatwere the lot of the immigrant at thattime.Upon arrival in South Australiathe family almost immediately movedto Gladstone. The lot of the newcomerswas hard and at the age of12 years, Mr Pitman obtained employmentwith Mr W. Hancock, thenproprietor of "The Areas Express,"and remained in the printing businessall his life. Except for a periodof two years, in Perth, Western Australia,where be gained valuable experiencein both the GovernmentPrinting Office, and the "DailyNews", Mr Pitman spent 34 yearson "The Express", where for a longperiod he was foreman printer.He married Miss Susan Henschke,at Georgetown.During his younger days he .wasa keen and popular sportsman, beinga player of football and cricket, anda lifelong follower and supporter ofall kinds ol sport. He saw considerableservice as secretary and handicapperfor cycling and athletics, hadan intimate knowledge of horseracing,and always followed footballwith undiminished enthusiasm. Duringhis long residence in Gladstone,Mr Pitman was a popular localidentity and served his town well.For many years he was secretaryof the Ornamental Grounds committee(a body controlling ovals andparks), and also gave valuable servicein the same capacity with thelocal Agricultural Bureau. In 1922he decided to enter business on hisown account and purchased "TheQuorn Mercury" from the late MrW. H. Bennett. On the eve of theirdeparture from Gladstone, Mr andMrs Pitman were given a publicfarewell by their Gladstone friends,when a record crowd and a handsomegift speeded them on theirway. The next twenty years wasspent in establishing his Quorn business,where he established a goodplant and his time was wholly devotedto business affairs. Mr Pitmanwas of a quiet and retiring disposition,and a generous but unostentatioussupporter of every worthymovement that tended to benefit thetown and district and those closelyassociated with him were ever awareof his sterling character and worthas a citizen.In latter years, his health startedto fail, and in February, 1941, hedecided to retire from active workand took up residence at Unley.Unfortunately, a strenuous and exactinglife had taken its toll, andhe continued to decline, and duringthe past twelve months has beenconfined to his room, uttil the end.He was a lifelong adherent of theChurch of England. The last riteswere said by the Rev. Weston, andthe remains-were interred in theSpringfield cemetery. The bearerswere Messrs L. J. and Bert Crisp,A. H. Abbott, Syd Ballantyne andF. Solomon.He leaves a widow and threechildren, Messrs J. V. Pitman (VictorHarbour), A. J. Pitman (StreakyBay), and Mrs L. J. Crisp (Fullarton).There are six grandchildren.
Spouses
Birth27 Mar 1876, Bethany, SA421
Death4 Dec 1957, Unley, SA425,2,420 Age: 81
Burial6 Dec 1957, Centennial Park Cemetery, Pasadena, SA425,2,420
Marriage27 Aug 1901, Gladstone, SA421