ONEHUNGA PIONEER.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20722, 15 November 1930, Page 12

ONEHUNGA PIONEER.

THE FIRST WHITE CHILD. DEATH OF MRS. I. HUTCHISON. MEMORIES OF EARLY DAYS. The first white child born in Onehunga, Mrs, Isabella Hutchison, died at her residence. Norman's Hill, Onehunga, yesterday. She was born in 1844, when Onehunga was a wilderness of tangled fern, manuka scrub and raupo swamp, with a few Maori kumara plantations in the clearings Her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Forbes, opened Ihe first hotel on the Manukau on the beach at the foot of Norman's Hill. Their farm there extended from the loreshore to Royal Oak, on the western side of what is now Queen Street.

When Mrs. Hutchison was born the land now occupied by '.he Borough of Onehunga had not been surveyed. She was three years old when the first survey party pitched its tent and proceeded to mark out the present streets. She lived to see the place where she was born transformed from a wild tract of fernland info a flourishing centre. She could recall' when the only means of vehicular traffic to the Waitemata t was the bullock dray, travelling over a succession of quagmires in winter and through smiling corn fields at Epsom and Newmarket in summer. To reach Otahuhu from Onehunga by land it was necessary to travel via Newmarket. Ihe raupo swamps and morasses between 'le Papapa and the Great South Road made that route impassable. She could also recall when the first sample of coal was sent to Onehunga by the Rev. Dr. Purchas, who discovered it at Taupiri in 1849.

Mrs. Hutchison's late husband. Mr. J. G. Hutchison, was town clerk of Onehunga from its constitution as a borough in 1877 until 1892. Ho died about 30 years ago. There are no children.

Mrs. Hutchison was the last remain ing foundation member of the Onehunga Ladies' Benevolent Society, established in 1865, and she maintained an active interest in the welfare of those in need for 63 years, when failing health demanded rest. For many years past it had been the custom of the members of the society to pay Mrs. Hutchison an official visit on her birthday and present her with a floral tribute in recognition of her life-long philanthropic work. She was also an active member of St. Peter's Anglican Church, of which, in her younger days, she was organist. The esteem in which Mrs. Hutchison was held was publicly recognised at the borough's jubilee celebrations in 1927,' when the Mayoress, Mrs. W. C. Coldicutt, presented her with a bouquet. Toward the end of 1929, Mrs. Hutchison suffered a serious illness, from which she never completely recovered.

A service will be held at St. Peter's Church, Onehunga, this afternoon, and the funeral will take place at Waikaraka Cemetery.