SIXTY YEARS MARRIED.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20332, 13 August 1929, Page 10

SIXTY YEARS MARRIED.

MR. AND MRS. J. MORISON.

OLD MAHURANGI RESIDENTS

The 60th anniversary of the wedding of Mr. and Mrs. James Morison, Kaipara Flats, was celebrated at their residence on Saturday. The occasion was one of great interest in the district, and there was a largo gathering of descendants. Among those present wore one son and six daughters, 17 grandchildren and three greatgrandchildren. The number of descendants living totals 48, one son, 7 daughters, 32 grandchildren and 8 great-grand-children. Many telegrams and messages of congratulation were received. The wedding ceremony took place on August 10, 1859,..at. the. residence of Mr. Robert Melville; brother of the bride,-in -Chapel Street. Auckland, the. minister being Mr. McNicol. Mr. Morison was born in Auckland in 1844, his parents having arrived in Auckland in 1842 by tho ship Jane GifTord. In 1853 the Morison family removed to Hepburn Creek, WarkwoiOi, then known as Mahurangi. When the Thames goldfield was opened the lure of gold attracted young Morison for a short period, but he "soon returned to the Mahurangi district, and in 1876, in partnership with his brother-in-law, tin late John Melville, took up a kauri bush at Kaipara Flats. They erected a sawmill and for many years supplied tho district with timber. When the timber was worked out the holding was worked as a sheep and cattle farm by Mr. Morison and his son, and is still carried on by the latter. Mrs. Morison arrived in New Zealand with her parents, the late Mr. and Mrs. A. Melville, by the ship Lord Ashley in 1858. after an adventurous voyage. Instead of landing in Auckland at tho end of the voyage, the family transhipped into a coasting vessel and came direct to the Mahurangi River, landing on Bradley's Point, Cowan's Bay.