GOLDEN WEDDING.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 244, 12 October 1916, Page 2

GOLDEN WEDDING.

■ John Dowd, of Parnell, who ' n ll known on the waterfront, cele1, *. ,*d the jubilee of his wedding to Miss '_.-*i*-.- Margaret Pearce on October 10th ■ fifty years ago this week. The marriage ceremony took place at St. Patrick's Cathedral, the officiating priest being the Rev. Father CReilly. The. husband is one of the oldest residents of Auckland, . as he came here when a child of two- | months old in .1847 with his parents in the shin Minerva, his father being assistant-surgeon to Dr. Malion. Mrs. Dowd was a daughter of Sergt.-Major Pearce, of the 51st' Regiment. Her husband has seen Auckland grow from a town of six to seven thousand people to its present size, and is still hale and i hearty enough to witness further development for many years yet.. He can tell of . the days when he pulled up what is now ' Queen Street, but was then the' Ligar ; canal, as far as the foot of ; Victoria i Street, where a bridge was thrown across ■ for the benefit of pedestrians. In those • days Parnell was the real city, and the . main road from Queen Street was up i Shortland Street. A family gathering was held on" Tues- . day, which was attended by the couple's \ children and grandchildren, there being , seventeen of the latter present. Mr.. l Thomas Francis Dowd,- of Hamilton," is , the only son, and the daughters are , Mesdames McGinnis and Millard (of , Remuera), Smith (Victoria Park), . Cutler (New Lynn), and McGruer i (Hastings).