MARRIED 66 YEARS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23172, 19 October 1938, Page 17

MARRIED 66 YEARS

ONEHUNGA COUPLE MR. AND MRS. JOHN GEORGE Believed to be the oldest Aucklandborn married couple, Mr. and Mrs. John George, of George Street, Onehunga, will celebrate the sixty-sixth anniversary of their wedding to-day. Both were born in Wyndham Street, Air. George in 1845, 93 years ago, and his wife nine years later. They wore married in the Church of the Assumption, Onehunga, in 1872 by the late Rev. Father Raul, and have lived in the neighbourhood for the greater part of their lives. Mr. George's parents arrived at Auckland by the ship Louisa Campbell in 1842, and his father, Mr. Edward George ; had charge of the first bonded store in the city. In 184J, when the pensioner settlement of Onehunga was laid out, he opened one of the first hotels in the township, the Royal. This was carried on by his widow after his death in 1855. Mrs. George, who was Miss Lillie Grimley, was the daughter of a couple who arrived from Mauritius by the ship Bolivia in 1841. Mr. George's night failed some years ago, but otherwise he enjoys reasonably good health, and Mrs. George is remarkable active for her yeai-s. They have a family of two surviving sons and three daughters. There are seven grandchildren and one great-grandson.