CENTENARIAN'S DEATH.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 143, 18 June 1926, Page 9

CENTENARIAN'S DEATH.

MRS. ANN WATSON.

OLDER THAN AUCKLAND CITY

CHEERFUL TO THE LAST

. Mrs. Ann.. Watson, who- reached her hundredth hirthday in March" last, died this afternoon at the Auckland Tn'firniary, where she -was admited only on the 2nd of this month.

Mrs. Watson, who was cheerful, until +he end, was older than Auckland city

and saw Governor Hobson land. Wherever she was knowu she was respected, and one of her neighbours characterised her "as honest as the day—an old lady who would never rest while she owed you a penny. She was a wonderful old woman and I have never known anyone so truthful; nor have 1 ever heard her complain once during the long time I have known her."

Born on March 18, 1526, at Shoreditch, London, Mrs. Watson came out to Australia with her parents. After a brief stay, there the family came, on to New Zealand, arriving some time prior to- January 20, .1840, for on that day Mrs. Watson saw Governor Hobson land at the Bay of Islands. Mrs. Watson's mother and step-father, named Johnston, first landed at Whanparoa and then moved down to'"'the ' Bay of Islands. Those were the days of the rollicking whale-ships, the .scenes at Kororareka being sometimes terrible orgies. To show how few Europeans there were at the Bay in thrfse times. Mrs. Watson could recall the fact that her mother, when she arrived, made the sixth white woman resident, in the Jittle township that formed tlie first eanital : of New Zealand. Many of Mrs: Watson's early recollections- were - printed in the Auckland "Star", on March 17, the day before her last birthday, when she recalled several incidents that made history in the early -days. To the reporter who interviewed her she said that God had been very good, that she had no aches and pains, and that she had much to be thankful fori She met her husband during a trip from tlie Bay of Islands to America in a schooner of 150 tons. They were married at Honolulu, and after Mr. Watson worked in the goldfields the couple returned to New Zealand. i _■. '-'*-;

Before ffoing into the infirmary, Mrs. Watson lived in a tiny cottage in the' parish of St. Matthews. For seventy-five years she was a parishioner of the church, and often opened bazaars and other functions connected with it. A memorial service will be conducted by Canon Grant. Cowen in' St. Matthew's Church at II a.m. on Sunday.