PIONEER DAYS

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 687, 12 June 1929, Page 11

PIONEER DAYS

Onehunga Resident Was In First Census BIRTHDAY TOMORROW At least one New Zealander can claim that her name was recorded in the first census, taken 79 years ago. She is Mrs. Fanny Hill, of Onehunga, who arrived in Auckland with her parents by the Oriental Queen in 1849, and will celebrate her 81st birthday tomorrow. fJ*HE Oriental Queen brought to Onehunga its first European settlers in the persons of the No. S Company of the Loyal New Zealand Feneibles, under the command of Captain T. M. Haultain. She arrived in the Waitemata on September 17, 1549, after a passage from Gravesend lasting 120 days. The arrival of troops from England at that time was one of the consequences of Hone Heke’s war in 1545, for the threats of the savage Ngapuhi’s to exterminate the pakehas, caused such uneasiness in the young settlement that Sir George Grey sought the aid of the Home Government.

The result of his representations was the settlement of the narrow isthmus between Onehunga and Panmure with pensioner soldiers, companies of whom were stationed at Howick, Panmure, Otahuhu and Onehunga to intercept any hostile movement of the natives.

For many years, the Ngapuhis, in their great war canoes, had made the

Tamaki their landing place, and had carried war into their southern enemy's territory by hauling their canoes across the portages at Otahuhu and Waiuku, and launching them on the waters of the Waikato, thus penetrating the heart of the country. The Otahuhu isthmus was, therefore, the strategic position, and the old Feneibles were placed there to close this highway to both the northern and Waikato natives, and so confine them to their own pas. These pioneer soldier settlers were given grants of land on condition that they attended parade once a week for seven years. They have all departed now, but hundreds of their descendants are still carrying on the work they began. Of the passengers who arrived by the Oriental Queen only five are known to be alive today. They are; Mrs. Delia Brennan and Mrs. Fanny Hill, of Onehunga; Mrs. Chitham, Ponsonby; Messrs. W. Gildard, Helensville; and J. Leather, Thames. Mrs. Brennan was only 15 months old when her parents settled in Onehunga. She celebrated her 81st birthday on June 1. and has lived in Onehunga all her life. Mrs. Hill, nee Tapp, is a native of Cornwall, a daughter of one of the old Feneibles, and the widow of the late Mr. C. V. Hill, for many years well known as the caretaker of the Ellerslie Racecourse, who died about seven years ago. One of Mrs. Hill’s stepsons is Mr. W. C. Hill, a member of the Onehunga Borough Council. Another old identity of Onehunga, Mrs. Sarah Tapp, will be present at the birthday celebrations tomorrow. She is the third white child born in the. settlement, and is in her 81st year. Like Mrs. Hill, her sister-in-law, she has lived continuously in Onehunga.