l00 YEARS OLD

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21440, 14 March 1933, Page 6

100 YEARS OLD

TWO HARDY PIONEERS

STILL IN GOOD HEALTH

CAPTAIN NEWBY AND MR. INGER

Two residents of the Auckland Province wil'l'be over 100 years old this month. Mr. Thomas Inger, of Port Albert, Kaipara, will be 102 next Sunday. Captain ,W. J. Newby, of Grey Lynn, will be 100 on Sunday, March 26. Both are in excellent health considering their great age. Mr. Inger is known as the "father" of the Kaipara district. He was one of the original Albertland settlers, arriving in New Zealand by the ship Matilda Wattenbach, the first of the Albertland vessels to reach Auckland. He was in charge of the boat which took the settlers from Hele'nsville to Albertland, and vividly remembers the hardships encountered by the settlers in the effort to carve homes for ( themselves out of the bush. In 1870 he was appointed district constable, retiring in 1894. Mrs. Inger died several years ago.'

Great age has not seriously impaired Mr. Inger's health. Ho is a cheerful figure in the Port Albert district and walks to the,post office every day for his letters. Captain Newby spent a very adventurous youth. He saw active service in Italy with Guiseppe Garibaldi, the famous Italian patriot, he was a soldier during the Maori wars and he participated in the gojd rush at Thames. Born at Cambridge, England, he took the B.A. degree at Cambridge University, after which he entered the Imperial Army. He held a lieutenant's commission when, in 1859, the British Government decided to send a force of 1000 picked men to help Garibaldi create a un;ted Italy. The expedition set sail from London in the ship Emperor and encountered terrific storms in the Bay of Biscay. The vessel was delayed so long thai she was given up as lost. She eventually reached Naples and the men were fighting the following day. In 1864 Captain Newby arrived in New Zealand in the ship Winteher, joining the Waikato Regiment. After the Thames gold rush in 1867 he took a farm at Tapa, where he resided for 30 years. For the last 23 years he has been living in retirement in Auckland. . In celebration of his approaching 100 th birthday, Captain Newby was entertained a few days ago by the Old Thames Girls' Asspciation, creating a great impression by making a splendid speech on the pioneer days at Thames. Captain and Mrs. Newby celebrated the 65th anniversary of their marriage on May 23 last year.