DEATH AT 102

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21639, 3 November 1933, Page 10

DEATH AT 102

RESIDENT OF AUCKLAND MRS. FRANCES SPEAKMAN EARLY DAYS RECALLED REIGN OF FOUR MONARCHS A woman who lived in the reigns of four monarehs of England, .Mrs. Frances .Mary Speakman, died at the Auckland Infirmary last evening at the ago of 102 years. Although confined to her bed practically since she went to the infirmary in December, 1030, Mrs. Speakman enjoyed comparatively good health until she suffered a stroke a week ago. She retained her faculties to a remarkable degree, hut her eyesight had begun to fail. Born in Appleford, a tiny Berkshire villago not far from Oxford, on August 22, 1831, Mrs. Speak man's first memory was of the building of a branch railway in the district. She used to treasure a Bible, presented to her in ISiO, when she was nine years of age by her Sunday School teacher. When she was 10 she made her first visit from Appleford to London for an exhibition and took the opportunity of strolling through Hyde Park to sec where the young Queen Victoria lived at Buckingham Palace. Accompanied by her husband, .Mr. William Speakman, to whom she was • married shortly before leaving Fngl land, Mrs. Speakman arrived at Auckj land by the ship Matoaka in 28-50, after ! a voyage of 10 weeks from Gravesend. | The first port of call was Wellington, j where some of the passengers left the ; .'-hip. A rowing boat brought Mrs. I Speakman ashore at Auckland, and ! landed her at Fort Britomart, a city i landmark which has now disappeared. When the City was Young j For some years she and her husband j were in the employ of a British officer, | stationed in New Zealand during the | Maori wars, and they resided in the ; Onehunga district, near Mount Smart, J for some time. Frequently she walked j from Onehunga to Auckland. That was | the only way of making the journey in those days, unless one was given a "lift" in a cart. Later she and her j husband resided in Grafton Road, and j afterward opened a shop in Mechanics' j Bay. The waters of the harbour then ! came right up to the main road and ■ the bay was a popular place for Maoris | to leave their canoes. In 1860 Mr. and Mrs. Speakman j established a grocery and confectionery } shop at the corner of Carlton Gore Road and King Street, Newmarket, and carried on business together until the gold rush at Thames occurred in 1867, when Mr. Speakman went to the goldfields, but he enjoyed scant success. On the death of her husband 42 years ago, Mrs. Speakman carried 011 in the Newmarket business alone until she was 96 years of ape, when she received the old age pension. As a resident of Auckland for nearly 75 years, Mrs. Speakman watched with keen interest the growth of the city. She had vivid recollections of the time when there were but a few straggling [ settlements between the Waitemata and | the Manukau Harbours. There were j scarcely any roads, and in places like ! Grafton Road and Queen Street step- ' ping stones and planking were used '■ to avoid the mud. Where the Domain : is now was a flax swamp, and between ' where tall buildings rise on each side j of Queen Street there was a creek run- j ning into the harbour at Shortland Street. Auckland's " Red Coats " One of Mrs. Speakman's most vivid . memories was the part the "red coats" j played in the life of the city. The barracks were situated at Albert Park, j Especially used Mrs. Speakman to re- j call the lines of men swinging up | Symonds Street, and away to One- | hunga, where they used to embark for j the various "battlefields" in the North ! Island. On the occasion of Mrs. Speakman's ! 100 th birthday, a party was given at i the infirmary by Mr. and Mrs. S. ! Donaldson, the Mayor and Mayoress of Newmarket, when there was a cake with 100 candles made by an old friend. It was characteristic of Mrs. Speakman's indomitable spirit and vigour that she insisted 011 the old custom of blowing out the candles and had no difficulty in extinguishing them all with one breath. There were over 100 callers at the party, and telegrams of congratulation received included messages from the Governor-General, Lord Bledisloe. and Lady Bledisloe. Mrs. Speakman bad no family and < there are no relatives in New Zealand. !