Ninety-six today

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33611, 13 August 1974, Page 6

Ninety-six today

Mrs Gertrude McEvedy recalled the days when her pony would meet her at the farm gate on her return from boarding school, and she would ride off, “hair flying in the wind.”

Mrs McEvedy, who is celebrating her ninety-sixth birthday today, was a keen horsewoman in her youth and still fondly remembers her favourite pony from the days on her father’s farm at Flaxton. Her hair is now white, but is still given the attention most younger women give their hair. A friend comes in once a week to wash and set it and Mrs McEvedy completes the beauty treatment by adding a little make-up. Mrs McEvedy was born at Flaxton and lived there on her father’s farm. She was Gertrude Duncan before she married. She never moved away from the country until her husband retired and after she was married lived at Southbridge and then at Blythe Downs near Cheviot in North Canterbury. Her riding stopped when she broke her hip in a fall from her horse. She remembers some details of her life vividly. There was the Prince of Wales Reception to which she wore a green and gold dress. She must have looked

quite stunning in the green and gold because, she says, although she didn’t actually meet the Prince, “he looked at me pretty hard.” Mrs McEvedy was also a professional singer and a note on a birthday card to her mentions her lovely voice and acting capabilities. Life on the farm when Mrs McEvedy was young was no easy task for a woman. The washing took nearly all day, and then there were the big, hearty meals to prepare for the men. Mrs McEvedy can still produce a fairly robust “coo-ee,” the call she used to summon the men to dinner. She also recalls the horse and trap she went to town in and their first car. She can’t remember the make but she thinks it was French or Belgian. In all, she says, she has had “a lovely life” and is still continuing to enjoy it, although it is a bit hard trying to keep track of her latest great-grandchildren. Mrs McEvedy has one son, four grandchildren, and five greatgrandchildren with another on the way.