DIAMOND WEDDING

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21616, 7 October 1933, Page 19

DIAMOND WEDDING

MR. AND MRS. J. BILLINGTON It is not many married people who have the opportunity of celebrating their diamond wedding, but Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Billington, of Masterton, parents of Mrs. J. T. Johnson, of Mangapiko (To Awamutu), celebrated 60 years of married life on Sunday last. Mr. and Mrs. Billington were married on October 1, 1873, at St. Peter's Church, Brackley, Northamptonshire, England, by the Rev. F. M. Thickness. The bride was Miss Anno Lathbury, third daughter of the late James and Eliza Lathbury, of Brackley, and the bridegroom was Mr. Joseph Billington, second son of the late Joseph and Amy Billington, of Somerton, Oxfordshire. They came to New Zealand two years later in the sailing ship Howrah, landing at Wellington on November 9, 1875, after a voyage of 02 days. Mr. and Mrs. Billington went to Masterton, where, a few years later, they purchased a small property, and have resided there ever sinco (approximately 58 years). There is a family of fivn sons and seven daughters, and all the sons and six of tlio daughters are still alive. There are 34 grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.