A DIAMOND WEDDING

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 74, 28 March 1931, Page 14

A DIAMOND WEDDING

MR

(By Teleflraph.)

; .-Mr. 'iand !Mr^^Moss;;i)avis;::;(f ormerly of.; Auckland/ now- residing-in! -London); wiliVcelebrate ;the:; diinwmd.jubilee ]s Of their wedding :^lt-';> i»3;K?l years1-since Mi. ;■ Davis •,'was r.:last: > .'inAuckland;Vbut;thr6ug|iout- that time ■he has always evincedya^kcen/Jinterest in thJEi 'welfare iop ihevcity,;and demonstrated this in a (practical way.by making vari6uB r gifts from time^to.tjmejtij public -institutions. "'.* :'v/'';*^:V«' .:•"• Mr. Mobs Davis wa's born in London on 3rd April," 1847, and; was taken; out to Australia by his parents as an infant in- the ;barque;Agricola, residing im Sydney untilv!Bos, when he returned^with his .parents to; London. He..was: educated at ,the celebrated school of Dr. Pinches:in;Lombard street,'.which-;turn-ed put many, brilliant' men, including Sir Henry Irving, Sir Edward1 Clark, K.G., and others. ,He returned to Syd; ney in 1861, and during the following year came to New Zealand in the brig Wild Wave, there being very few steamers in'those days. He relates how he landed from* small boat on'-to: a bullock . dray on the beach, and was taken.ashore to where.-Lambton .quay

now stands. After a brief stay iuWellington he proceeded to L'yttelton .and. joined his uncle, .who was a -merchant in business there. In those days there was no tunnel through to; Christchurch, and Mr.' Davis had maiiy times to''walk over the hills to get to the t0wn..... He also saw the beginning of the Lyttelton tunnel, rind the first railway locomotive landed, as'■•'well .as' : one of. tho firstitele-i graph offices established; ;iri New.. Zealand; He :was v .contemporaneous;.'i iri; those days with Sir James Millsj" "who was also- in Lytteltoh, his father being the Collector of Customs, there.-,«He remained in Lyttelton for twoiyears, and then. went;.to Kelson to join, his fathery whoiwas in business as a.merchant. , , In 1870 he went to Australia;:where he; married Miss Jacobs; of Melbourne, on 29th March, 1871; She was born in Manchester, and' came: to..Melbourne with' her brother about; the year ;• 1868; Mrs. Moss Davis has been noted all her life for her-philanthropy; and outstanding;! personalityj being:, gifted in many ways; arid, in her' early, days in particular, had a remarkably sympathetic soprano: voice, ■ and took] a leading part in ; musical circles.1 in Nelson and subsequently in ' . : ; \X Mr. Moss Davis took over ;his father's business of general merchant in; 1875, and afterwards saw a; lot of the gold .mining on the West Coast, and ■went-, through , the vicissitudes ;-of...;the early pioneers! He eventually made a success of his business and. at the age of 36 decided to retire, hut found, it impossible to be idle, so .went to Auckland in 1885 to. join the firm of Hancock and Co. 'On the. death of'his part: ncr, Mr.; Samuel Jagger, he became the sole-proprietor of the ; present wellknown firm. Mr. Davis of ten speaks of the time when as; a merchant in Nelson,in the early 'seventies, he used to import Irish butter from Cork. It came out in firkins, saltedj and ml those days, they.'had to treat it. in order to extract the salt and make it -'palatable; During the 'war1 Mr. Davis took, a leading part ml London lin - various organisations bounded to promote the welfare of the soldiers, and many a returned soldier will' recall: his keen and generous regard for their 5 interests. Their manjf friends in the Dominion will; join ;,in congratulating Mr. and Mrs. Moss Davis on their diamond wedding. ' .;,-.■ ; .;■:.:■.:■■:■:'■. : . i"-"V.vV