DIAMOND WEDDING.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LII, Issue 2, 2 December 1931, Page 11

DIAMOND WEDDING.

Celebrating their diamond wedding on Satifrday, Mr and Mrs W. H. Kells, of Milford, Auckland, are old settlers of New Zealand who have shared a life of more than ordinary hardship. They are pioneers of the Wellington and West Coast districts and went to live in retirement in Auckland. 16 years ago. Mr lvells’s memory goes back to the earthquake in Wellington in 1851 and lie recalls the time when Wellington consisted of little more than a single row of houses straggling along Lambton Quay. ' . Mr and Mrs Kells, who enjoy good health, are aged 83 and, 81 years respectively. They were married at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, Wellington, on November 28, 1871, and after living in Wellington for a number ot years settled on the west coast oi the South Island, where Mr Kells was engaged in gold mining and prospecting. They ultimately decided to reside in Auckland. They have 10 children and there are 43 grandchildren and 2o great-grandchildren. Mr Kells, who was horn in Chatham, England, was brought by his parents to New Zealand at the age of five. Mrs Kells, who was Miss Annie NunnWilson, also came to New Zealand as a child. Mr Kells’s father, the late Mr Henry Kells, was a soldier in tfie 65th Regiment.