GREAT OLD AGE

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLIX, Issue 79, 2 March 1929, Page 8

GREAT OLD AGE

RESIDENT OF FEILDING. CELEBRATES 104th BIRTHDAY. Regarded as the oldest European woman in New Zealand, Mrs Frances Webb celebrated the 104tli anniversary of her birthday at Feilding to-day. Mrs Webb was born at Silverwell, a few miles from Truro, iri the County of Cornwall, in 1825, in the reign of Ring George IV. She has therefore lived during tho reign of five British Sovereigns, and was 12 years old when Queen Victoria ascended the throne. Mrs Webb, whose maiden name was Frances Harris, lived in Cornwall until her marriage in 1851 to Mr William Webb at Linkinliorne, Liskeard, Cornwall. r _, , With her husbancLMrs IV ebb sailed from Liverpool just before Christmas 1857, for Australia in the American sailer Tornado, .which took six months to accomplish the, voyage. Arriving in Melbourne, they later went to the gold diggings at Bendigo where Mr Webb introduced the first gold quartz-crushing plant that went to Australia. Mrs Webb still wears.a brooch made of some of the gold secured there by her husband in those early days. After some years at Bendigo Mrs Webb and her fiusband went to the diggings in Otago and lived subsequently at Dunedin, Hokitika and New Plymouth. She now lives with one of her two daughters. For one of such a great age Mrs Webb retains possession of her faculties to a marked degree and she has received many congratulatory messages from a wide circle of friends througnout the Dominion. MAORI CENTENARIAN. DEATH IN THE NORTH. . (By Telegraph.—Special to Standard.) AUCKLAND, March 2. The death has occurred at Pamapuria of Job Toamia, who was stated to be 105 years of ago. In his younger days. Toamia was an all-round soprtsman, excelling in boxing, wrestling and running. He was a great devotee of the turf and during the early ’eighties owned some of the best racehorses between Kawakawa and the Nc.rtli Gape. Fart of his life was spent at sea and he sailed in some of the early whaling vessels as an ordinary seaman. Eventually he was promoted to first mate. He was one of the fire survivors of a ship wrecked off Cape lvarikari, North Auckland.