PERSONAL ITEMS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 11987, 9 June 1902, Page 6

PERSONAL ITEMS.

Gaptaxx Taylor, of the British Remount Commission, left for New Plymouth yesterday by the Ngapuhi. Mr. Frank Lawry, M.H.R., was a passenger from New Plymouth by the Mapourika on Saturday. General Babington, Commandant of the New Zealand Forces, and Captain Campbell (staff officer), were passengers to New Plymouth by the Ngapuhi yesterday. Mr. A. J. Kennedy, F.R.G.S., a London ';' journalist, who is touring the colonies, left for Rotorua on Saturday morning, accompanied by his daughter. Mr. Kennedy remains at Rotorua for about a week, and will then go on to Wellington overland, via !■'.-', Taupo. . f . A private letter received here states that Lieutenant D. P. Simson, who went to South i Africa with the Eighth New Zealand Contingent, has been appointed to Colonel Thorneycroft's staff. Prior to leaving Lieutenant Simson was a subaltern in the Seddon i •Horse Mounted Rifles. ' On Saturday, at noon, a pleasing cere- > mony took place at Mr. G. Mcßride's tailoring establishment in Victoria-street, when :~ Mr. E. W. Twiname and Mr. A. Baker, two employees of ±5 years' standing, were presented by Mr/Mcßride, on behalf of the .firm and employees, with a handsome silvermounted oak writing desk and a case of handsome silver-mounted pipes respectively. Mr. Mcßride referred in warm terms to the long and faithful services of both, and ~_._; hoped they would succeed in their new venture. Messrs. Twiname and Baker returned thanks for the handsome keepsakes and hearty good wishes. The Rev. P. T. Fortune, the recentlyappointed vicar of the Coromandel parochial district, and his wife, were formally welcomed at a social gathering in the Caledon- '• ian Hall, Coromandel, on Friday evening. There was a very large attendance, and the fathering was a representative one, mem- , era of every denomination being present. Mr. R. Simmonds, people's warden, welcomed the new vicar in the name of the :' .Anglicans of Coromandel, and -words of kindly greeting were spoken by the Rev. T. A. Nome (Presbyterian) and the Rev. H. H, Roget (Wesleyan). Mr. Fortune replied in suitable terms. The following musical programme was rendered during the even- | ing :—Pianoforte duet, Mr. S. French and ! , Miss Rhodes; songs by Mesdames Allen and ■ Kidson. Misses Callaway, McDonald, and ' MeCormick, Messrs. Walker and Hyatt and I vocal duet> by Mrs. Allen and Miss Callaway. | A small gathering of great interest took I place at the residence of Mr. and Mrs.' Robert Scott, Willoughby-street, Thames, on | Saturday afternoon last, the occasion being the diamond wedding of the aged couple. ! Their daughter, Mrs. T. R. Jones, invited a j few old friends to afternoon tea, and a pleasant hour or two was spent, hearty congratu- j lations being tendered to Mr. and Mrs. Scott. ' Additional interest centres round the event, I as Mr. and Mrs. Scott are among the oldest ; of the "old colonists,'' having come to Auckland in the Jane Gifford, one of the historic ' "first two ships." Mr. and Mrs. Scott were j married on June 7, 1842, in St. Mary's ' Episcopal Church, Union-sheet, Glasgow, ' by the Rev. Geo. Almond. They left. 11 days ' later for New Zealand, in the Jane Gilford, | arriving on October 8, in Auckland. About ! ■ a year later they went to the Bav of j Islauds, and lived there till the Heke'wai was threatening, when they returned to Auckland. In 1867, the first rush to tie Thames goldfield took place, and Mr. and Mrs. Scott brought their family to try their fortunes in the new land of gold, and have I resided in the locality ever since. Both Mr. and Mrs. Scott were born in 1821. in the North of Ireland, the former in the suburbs of Donegal, and the latter in the Baronv of Dungannon, County Tyrone. Mrs. Scott's maternal grandfather was a re- •) ' fugee French Huguenot, whose family had : all perished in the terrible persecutions*, after ::;• the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, and who himself escaped in'an English man-o'- • war. Mr. Scott is the oldest of a family ■-'' ■ of seven, who came out all together with their parents, and 10 years ago the seven were all living. His father died some years . ago in his 101 st year, so longevity is in the ' family. Both the octogenarians are hale and hearty. Their descendants are scattered over the length and breadth of the land. Of their 10 children seven are living, six sons and a daughter. Their grand-children living number 40, and great-grand-children eight, : One of their grandsons died of enteric fever whilst serving as a trooper in the fourth New : " Zealand Contingent in the South African >: ' 'war./