Obituaries Australia

Sorrowful news comes from Melbourne of the death of Ada L. Turnbull, wife of the Rev. A. Turnbull.

It is not necessary for The Clipper to say how deeply Hobart friends empathise with the bereaved husband and family in this, their dark hour of trouble. We all loved Mrs. Turnbull for her nobility of womanhood. No weather was too wet or stormy for her to face, and whether Mr. Turnbull was speaking from the stump or platform she always gallantly took her place by his side. His work was her work, and where he gave fervor and force to the work of Reform and Agitation, she graced it with virtue and gentleness.

Never indulging in the mere cant of undervaluing the status of the wife of an Anglican parish priest, yet she hungered not for the fleshpote of Egypt, and, when last in Hobart, while quietly chatting about Socialism and the general "hardupishness" of agitators, Mrs. Turnbull, in that quite, brave way which was so strikingly indicative of her resolve to fight and to suffer, said: 'Well, I don't care. We feel so independent, and life is so sweet when one is trying to do some real good for the world's workers. We have often talked it over, and Mr. Turnbull and myself have always agreed if we were ever offered a parish that we would refuse it."

The deceased lady was a native of Tasmania, and her sister, who of late years has rendered on many occasions timely assistance to the sorely troubled family, is a resident of the Huon. Mrs. Turnbull was a good musician and reciter, and her talents largely assisted organising work, especially in connection with the Labor Church, which Mr. Turnbull has been conducting of late years. For some time past Mr. Turnbull has been seriously ill, and our Melbourne friends sadly fear untoward results from the shock occasioned by his bereavement; but we in Hobart, who know his courage, believe that, despite bodily sickness, he will command Fate, and trust that for many years his powerful voice may continue to be heard in the cause of Labor and Social Democracy. It needs no words to panegyrise the deceased. She will live in the memory of all who knew her as a good wife and noble woman!