TARATA GOLDEN WEDDING

Taranaki Daily News, 31 December 1929, Page 13

TARATA GOLDEN WEDDING

MR. AND MRS. R. PATERSON.

SURPRISE VISIT FROM SETTLERS.

The golden wedding of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Paterson, Tarata, was celebrated on Sunday, when there was a large family gathering at their residence. In the afternoon settlers paid a surprise visit, conveying greetings and expressing appreciation of what Mr. and Mrs. Paterson had done for the district. Handsomely upholstered chairs were presented to Mr. and Mrs. Paterson by the family, while the settlers gave an eiderdown quilt to Mrs. Paterson and a case of pipes to Mr. Paterson. With the exception of Lieut. David Paterson, who was killed in Palestine during the Great War, all the members of the family were present at the wedding breakfast, as well as 13 of the 15 grandchildren. An appropriate toast list was honoured.

The surprise party of settlers met at the bridge near the residence in the afternoon and, headed by Piper L. Goble, marched in procession to the house. Mr. and Mrs. Paterson were taken by surprise, and feelingly acknowledged the kindly action of their neighbours.

The settlers of the district, said Mr. H. Waite, felt that they could not let the happy occasion pass without expressing their appreciation of what Mr. and Mrs. Paterson had done for the district during their long residence there, and also their gratitude for the kindness that had always been extended by the couple. The earlier settlers knew • the difficulties experienced in the early days, when they had 14 miles of mud between the district and the. town of Inglewood, and how in case of sickness they always made for Mrs. Paterson until such time as a doctor could arrive. He had known her get out of her bed, mount a horse and ride miles to help a neighbour. He assured both Mr. and Mrs. Paterson they had won the respect and esteem of every settler in the district.

Mr. Paterson said he did not knowhow to thank their friends for their kindly action and expressions of goodwill towards Mrs. Paterson and himself. They had done nothing more than any settler should do to help the district in which he resided.

Cheers were given for Mr. and Mrs. Paterson, and the company then proposed to disperse, but there was further evidence of the hospitality of Mr. and Mrs. Paterson and their family. They had been taken completely by surprise, but despite protestations insisted on all going inside. Mrs. Paterson cut the wedding cake, and a short toast list was honoured.

Married at Paisley, Scotland, Mr. and Mrs. Paterson came to New Zealand three years later, settling for a while at Wanganui. Subsequently Mr. Paterson took up land on the Inglewood side of the Tarata bridge, and Mrs. Paterson made her first visit to the district on a bullock wagon. There were only mud roads in those days and the country was all in standing bush. There they set about the task of carving, out a home for themselves. Difficulties were met with, but they won through. Despite the long hours of arduous work on their' own farm, Mr. and Mrs. Paterson always took a keen interest in any movement for the welfare of the district, and in case of sickness Mrs. Paterson was ever to the fore, anxious to do anything she possibly could to help her neighbours.