MIGRANT DAYS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 128, 2 June 1938, Page 9

MIGRANT DAYS.

EARLY AUCKLAND.

MR. R. MILLEN LOOKS BACK.

rWO REMARKABLE ESCAPES.

Bixty-five years ago yesterday a group! of men, women and children crowded excitedly and expectantly along the decks of a trim full-rigged ship as her anchor rattled into the waters of the Waitemata Harbour.

The vessel was the Woodlark, 88 days out of Gravesend, the people part of a band of 140 English migrants who had set their faces toward a new world that lay in the south. Among them was a youth who, as eagerly as any of the rest, had waited, as the ship sped and meandered alternately at the will of the winds, for the day when the dark coastline of New Zealand showed its highest points above the horizon. And now the ship was still, her sails furled, the water quiet, and in the town of Auckland —low buildings and muddy streets in a narrow gully—people went their various ways in the briskness of the early winter day.

Tragic Incident. It wae a crowded day for the youth who leaned from the rail of the Woodlark. To-day the thoughts of that lad are 65-year-old memoriee that flood the mind of Mr. Robert Millen, of Epeom, well-known ex-farmer and trainer, whose life in New Zealand began on June 1, 1873.

Yesterday was, therefore, an oppor-! tune time for reminiscences. Mr. Millen i 6 poke of the passage of the Woodlark— considered a smart one, for the trip of 88 days compared with the 100 and even 140 days which other vessels spent on the same voyage. But for a week'e delay, when the Woodlark wae becalmed in— of all places—the Bay of Biscay, the journey might have been a , record one.

The "Evening Star" of Monday, June 2, recorded the arrival at Auckland of the Woodlark, describing her as a fine

ship, newly coppered, and as having made the fastest voyage of the season. There was a tragic incident, too, which attracted special attention to the ship. During the trip an 11-year-old lad had fallen over the side while "towing a towel in the water." The newspaper 1 related: "A lifebuoy was thrown .overboard and a boat put out, but without avail —the little fellow had found a watery grave.'* Then, in all solemnity, it was recorded: "The lifebuoy wae not recovered."

The Auckland which Mr. Milieu first saw was little more than a village. Queen Street was a qnagmire, broken by patches of growing grass. Unbroken land beyond the town was to mean hard work for many of the families aboard the Woodlark, but it was the blacksmith trade which Mr. Millen first entered.

Success on 1/1. Five years after his arrival—6o years ago on June 10—he decided to start in business on his own account, and he set out with all • his belongings for the Pakuranga district. After he had paid the sixpenny toll which allowed him to cross the Panmure bridge he had in hi? possession a sum of 1/1. From that meagre start he built up a successful business and carried on large-scale farming, until he retired and went to live at Epsom.

Followers of the sport of trotting a few years ago remember well the name of. "Bob" Millen. For many years he [trained and drove his own horses, and he was actually driving until he was 05 years old. Two of his best known horses were Miss Marvin Downs and Lord Roberts'.

Sixty-five years ago, and again 29 years ~ago, Mr. Millen had remarkable escapes from disasters at sea. Originally his father had intended that the family should migrate to Queensland, and passages were booked on the Gospatrick. Plans were changed, however, and the ;Millen family travelled to New Zealand iin the Woodlark. Meanwhile the Gospatrick was burned at sea and only twb survived of a total of 400 passengers.

The second escape was when, in 1909, Mr. Milieu decided to pay a visit to England with his wife. They booked passages in the Waratah, but a land transaction delayed their departure for three weeks, and they filially sailed in the Ruapcliu. 'Reaching Plymouth, the first news they heard was that the Waratah was missing. She was never heard of again.