Pike, Gordon Seldon

*Birth Details Date: 1885, Folio No: 1484, Area: Wellington, June quarter, Name: Gordon Pike*

1908 Wellington Suburbs Supplementary Electoral Roll shows Gordon Pike, Maranui, Storeman

*Death Details Date: 1909, Folio No: 1854, Area: Wellington, September quarter, Name: Gordon Pike*

Probate Record shows Gordon Seldon Pike, Place: Wellington, Occ: Commercial Traveller, Date of Death: 6/7/1909, Court: Wellington, Archives Reference: AAOM 6029 12171, Probate No: 12171, Date Filed: 20/7/1909, Type: Intestate (Letters of Administration), Archives NZ, Wellington

The Evening Post 6th July 1909 shows
Tragic Occurrence
Young Man Dies While Trying To Catch a Car
A tragic death occurred at Maranui this morning when a young man named Gordon Pike, while running to catch the Kilbirnie tram at Maranui, suddenly dropped to the roadway, and died, without a struggle, instantly.
Dr. Giesen was summoned, the young man in the meanwhile having been removed to an adjacent cottage. On his arrival ten minutes later, Dr. Giesen pronounced life to be extinct.
Pike was an athletic young fellow, of about twenty four years of age, who had done some foot running and rowing, and had never shown indication of weakness previously.
Last evening, after a music lesson, he returned in his usual spirits, to the whare at Maranui, there he and three others, including his brother, "bached." This morning, he ate a hearty breakfast, and the party having risen late, had to hurry for a tram. Pike''s brother, cycling into town, passed him on the way, while Mr. Charles Bell, second engineer at the Electric Light Works, also passed the deceased. Mr. Bell caught the car, and did not know of the fatality, though he wondered that Pike did not reach the car in time. The whare is about a mile distant from the terminus, and it is thought that the unusual exercise of the top of breakfast, may have affected deceased''s heart.
Mr. Pike was a town traveller for Messrs. E. W. Mills and Co. His brother works with Messrs. Andrews and Manthel, electrical engineers.
According to later information, deceased, in company with a Mr. Fryer, was on his way to the car when Pike remarked he would run along on front. After doing so for 100 yards, he pulled up, walked a few yards, and then fell, face downwards, not moving again.
Dr. Giesen refused a certificate of death. An inquest is to be held at the Morgue at 4.30 this afternoon.

The Evening Post 7th July 1909
Pike - On the 6th July, 1909, at Maranui, Wellington, suddenly. Gordon Seldon Pike, aged 24 years; deeply regretted
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Funeral Notice
The Friends of Gordon Seldon Pike are invited to attend his Funeral, which will leave the residence of Mr. W. S. Buck, Blackbridge, Lower Hutt, Tomorrow (Thursday), 8th July, at 9.30 a.m., for the Taita Cemetery.
J. and A. Wilson, Ltd., Funeral Furnishes
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Enquiry into the death of Gordon Seldon Pike was held before Dr. A. McArthur, Coroner, last evening. The circumstances of the young man''s death were fully reported yesterday. Evidence was given by Dr. Giesen, who held a post mortem examination, that deceased was exceptionally sturdy and well built. The internal organs were sound, with the exception of the valves of the heart, which showed considerable thickening, especially on the left side. Haemorrhage was found on the right side of the brain, and to this death was attributable. A verdict was returned accordingly

Cemetery Fiche for Christ Church Cemetery, Taita, Lower Hutt shows Record No: 142
Elizabeth Seldon Pike died 28 April 1901 aged 57 years also Evelyn Seldon Pike and Cecil Seldon Pike, Gordon Seldon Pike aged 24 years, William S Buck 1846 - 1919