Border Watch (Mount Gambier, SA) Wednesday 11 August 190953397

OBITUARY.

Mr. James Kilsby.-There are many in
the South-East, and elsewhere in the
State--for Mr. James Kilsby, of Bentley,
Mount Gambier East, was widely known—
who will greatly regret to learn of his
death, which occurred early yesterday
morning at his residence. Mr. Kilsby,
who had generally enjoyed excellent
health, and whose bright, cheerful,
breezy manner made it a pleasure for his
friends to meet him, was in the town on
Saturday last, and was then to all ap-
pearance in the best of health. He seemed
as alert and interested in the world's
affairs as any man in the prime of life
could have been. It was, therefore, with
great surprise that the news of his
death was received yesterday.
It appears that in the morning he was
assisting in the milking of the cows, and
seemed in his usual health and spirits.
About 8 o'clock he entered the dairy
with a pail of milk with the object of
putting it in the separator, but felt back
on the floor, and died almost imme-
diately. Dr. MacDonald was sent for.
and at once went out to Bentley. It
seemed that death was clearly the result
of heart failure, but in order to make ab-
solutely sure of the cause, and satisfy
everybody, the doctor did not give a cer-
tificate. He reported the death to the
police, and they arranged to have a post
mortem made this forenoon, and that Dr.
MacDonald should hold an inquest at  
Bentley at 2 o'clock in the afternoon.
Mr. Kilsby was a native of Hamp-  
shire, England, where he was born in  
1831, 78 years ago. He was 19 years of
age when he left England on December
24, 1850, for Port Adelaide. The sailing
ship took 88 days on the voyage. After
his arrival in this new land, now over
58 years ago, he put his hand to what
ever presented itself, to begin with. In
1852 he went to the Viciorjan gold dig-
gings, then engaging the attention of the
world, and put in three years of hard
work there. He had varying luck, but on
the whole had no reason to bewail want
of fortune. The deceased, who was a man
of much intelligence and an excellent and
entertaining raconteur, had an inexhaust-
ible fund of stories and anecdotes, on
which a first-class memory enabled him
to draw at call. He told good stories of
farm life in England, of waiting in a great
house, and of the excitement of fox-
hunting, in which he took a lively in-
terest. His memory was full of startling
incidents at the diggings, where a man's
most faithful and useful companion was a
double-barrelled gun or a six-shooter, and
anecdotes of the bush, and adventures
with the blacks, after he returned
from nugget seeking. On his return from
the diggings in 1855, Mr. Kilsby pur-
chased a small farm at Bald Hills, near
Gawler. It was there he met Miss Eliza
Pratt, whom he married on March 18,
1856. He came with his wife and young
family to Mount Gambier 50 years ago,
and engaged in farming. About 40 years
ago he purchased the Bentley property,
on which he continued to reside till his
death. He was an enterprising and in-
telligent farmer, belonging to the new
and progressive school, rather than the old  
sort who were content to follow in the
rut that their fathers made. He carried
on at various times in the long stretch
of 50 years wheat growing, dairying, hop
cultivation, oat and barley growing, and
grazing, and learned by experiment the
best modes of conducting each.
The deceased gentleman had a family of
nine sons and daughters, eight of whom
survive, The sons are Messrs. George H.
Kilsby, of the Grange, Mount Gambier
East, Alfred A. Kilsby, Mount Gambier
East, E. J. Kilsby, C. E. Kilsby, Mount
Gambier, F. W. Kilsby, of the River
Murray, and A. E. Kilsby, of the Wim-
mera, and Mesdames W. H. Kilsby and
Bruce, of Victoria. Besides these he  
leaves over 40 grand-children and several
great grand-children. On Wednesday,
March 21, 1906, Mr. and Mrs. Kilsby
celebrated, at Bentley, with a large ga-
thering of his descendants and friends,
their golden wedding, and were warmly
congratulated on having reached that
stage in life, and brought up so large
and excellent a family, and Mr. Kilsby
himself acknowledged that God had great-
ly favored him. Mrs. Kilsby died on
January 17 last year.
The funeral of the late Mr. Kilsby is
announced by Mr. G. B. Renfrey for
Thursday afternoon.