BRIDEGROOM OF 97

Evening Post, Volume CXXII, Issue 154, 28 December 1936, Page 11

BRIDEGROOM OF 97

NEW PLYMOUTH CEREMONY

A bridegroom, aged 97 years, and a bride of 61 were married at New Plymouth on Thursday evening (states a New Plymouth correspondent). They were' Mr Isiah. McSaveney, who ■ recently returned from abroad, and Mrs. Ada Mira Farquhar, a widow who had been married twice before. Mr. McSaveney, who in recent years has travelled extensively in Australia and New Guinea, is believed to have substantial property interests in Hawke's Bay and Canterbury. His personal appearance gives no indication of his great age, and he might easily pass for a well-preserved man of 75. The wedding was celebrated quietly in a private house. Gold fossicking in New Zealand, Australia, and New Guinea, sheep and cattle farming in Poverty Bay, and 20 years of travel occupied 89 years of Mr. McSaveney's life. Until recently he had two stations at Rakauroa and others in Hawke's Bay, but earlier in the year he sold his properties and announced his intention of travelling. Born near Armagh, Northern Ireland, Mr. McSaveney came to New Zealand with his people when he was a small boy. He prospected in New Zealand, Australia, and New Guinea, and when members of his party separated they had £20,000 each. Mr. McSaveney then returned to New Zealand and purchased various stations. After a holiday in Australia, Mr. McSaveney returned to New Zealand in September. Amusement was created in Sydney by the report of how a woman had proposed marriage to him, and he had not long been there before five similar proposals from the Dominion were forwarded to him. He announced that while he was prepared to make a move towards the altar when the right woman came along, he thought it would be too risky to reply to those who made advances to him by mail.