DIAMOND WEDDING.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21199, 3 December 1930, Page 11

DIAMOND WEDDING.

MR AND MRS JOHN COOMBS. Mr and Mrs John Coombs, of Calder street, North-East Valley, celebrated their diamond wedding at their residence on Monday, when two functions of an appropriate congratulatory nature were held. In the afternoon there was a gathering of about 50 friends of the couple, and the Rev. A. Anstice, on behalf of the North-East Valley Baptist Church, of which Mr and Mrs Coombs arc members, presented them with a suitably inscribed tea wagon. In doing so, he made reference to the excellent support they had accorded the church during the long years of their connection with it. Congratulatory speeches were also made by several friends. Telegrams and letters of congratulation were received from various parts of the Dominion and from Australia. A. function was held in tlie cveningwhen Mr and Mrs Coombs entertained a large gathering of relations and friends. Of their two sons and three daughters, only two daughters were able to be present. These were Mesdamcs D, J. Calder and 6. Stewart, of Dunedin. The other daughter, Mrs P. J. Blackman, i resides in Nelson, and the two sons, Charles and Prank, are living in Australia. Four generations were represented at the gathering, there being 27 grand-children and seven great-grand-children. _ Mr Coombs, who was born in London, came to New Zealand as a small boy, over 70 years ago. His parents first lived in Auckland, but did not stay there long before coming to Dunedin, where Mr Coombs has lived ever since. He has resided in the North-East Valley for the past 40 years, being engaged in the tanning industry until his retirement several years ago. , Mrs Coombs was the daughter of Andrew and Isobel Boyes, of Scotland. to New Zealand in the ship Mariner in 1849, and it is worthy of note that she is the only surviving pas- " senger. Mr and Mrs Coombs were married at Caversham in 1870 by the Rev. Dr Burns. They lived in that district for some time, later moving to the north end. Mr Coombs’s only surviving brother is Mr James Coombs of this city, and of Mrs Coombs’s family there are one brother, Mr Duncan Boyes, of Dunedin, and one sister, Mrs David Ford, of Hastings, etill living. Mr and Mrs Coombs still enjoy fairly good health.