Onehunga Pioneers

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 508, 10 November 1928, Page 7

Onehunga Pioneers

REV. G. BROWN AND MRS. I. HUTCHISON BIRTHDAYS TO-MORROW Two old identities of Onehunga will celebrate their birthdays tomorrow (Sunday). The Rev. Georne Brown, M.A., father of the Presbyterian Church in Auckland, was born in the reign of William IV., and will be 98. Mrs. Isabella Hutchison, the first white girl born in Onehunga, will be 84. Arrangements are being made for several prominent citizens to pay their respects and offer congratulations to the two veterans. Among the visitors will be the members of the Onehunga Ladies’ Benevolent Association, of which Mrs. Hutchison is a foundation member, and in which she has taken an active interest for the past 63 years and is still a regular attendant at the meetings. She is the widow of the late Mr. J. Hutchison, Onehunga’s first town clerk, appointed in 1877. Mrs. Hutchison still enjoys good health and is a prominent figure at all public gatherings. Miss M. Robb, secretary of the Onehunga Ladies’ Benevolent Association, will tender the customary birthday present of a floral bouquet to-morrow morning. The Rev. George Brown, M.A., arrived in Auckland on January 15, 1860, by the Jura, being then a young man of 30. At that time the only Presbyterian church in the Auckland Province was St. Andrew’s, and it is largely owing to Mr. Brown’s energy that the now prosperous churches of St. James’s. St. Luke’s, Epsom, Avondale, Onehunga and Devonport, owe their birth and infant nurture. His first parish extended from Henderson to Onehunga, taking in Waikumete. Avondale and Titirangi, but when the Rev. Mr. Anderson was appointed to Avondale Mr. Brown took over the whole region between Devonport and the Wade, and it is a remarkable tribute to his zeal that he never once missed a service. He rowed himself across the harbour and walked regularly to and from the Wade along slimy bush tracks and through swollen streams, often preaching in clothes dripping wet. He has covered 50 miles on foot in one day and once walked from Onehunga to Auckland in 55 minutes. He was an eye-witness of the wreck of H.M.S. Orpheus on the Manukau Bar in February, 1863, while walking toward Muddy Creek to preach. He was the first Presbyterian minister to be ordained in Auckland, the ceremony having been conducted by the late Dr. Bruce and Mr. J. Macky. in April, 1860. He conducted the first Presbyterian services in Remuera in the late Mr. Joseph Newman’s hall in Orakei Road, and the present St. Luke’s Church is the result of those services. An accomplished classical scholar, with an 'excellent knowledge of Hebrew, Mr. Brown, on relinquishing his last ministerial charge at Onehunga in the early eighties, conducted for many years Latin and Greek classes at the old Grammar School. Though failing physically, he is still able to indulge in his favourite exercise of sawing wood, while his memory is unimpaired. Among his visitors to-morrow will be representatives of the Auckland Presbytery, including the clerk, the Rev. D. D. Scott, of Onehunga.