LONG LIFE IN DOMINION.

Taranaki Daily News, 22 November 1930, Page 6 (Supplement)

LONG LIFE IN DOMINION.

A HASTINGS RESipSN-i 1 -. To have lived in New Zealand for 9o years is the record of Mrs- Ami Adamson, who celebrated Iw l ' 87th hirtlidav at Hastings tjiis tyeck- Sh? / 8 Relieved ‘to be the oldest colonist in the Dominion and the sole surviving witness of’ the ceremony performed by Captain Hobson when he declared British sovereignty over New Zealand in W- bhe was present at his burial m Auckland in 1.842, , , It is probable that M rs - Adamson, who was born at Hobart in 1833, is the ‘oldest surviving colonial Rritpp. DPI father and mother landed ip Australia in 1829 and came to New Zealand in 1835, landing at Hokianga. JJpr pprepts engaged a‘ party of Maoris to guide them through the roadless bush tp Russell,* ppd after going somp distance t ie natives robbed them of all put thp clothes they wore and dpcamppfl: °dP elderly native returned, however, anp by indicated the direction to Russell. The party set off on the jntJHiey which ultimately was _ accomplished, each parent carrying a child pipk?a-bacl£ all the way. . • ’ The family lived at varipus tmips m Auckland, Bay of Islands, Coromandel and ‘ Tauranga, Mrs. Adamson s father and brother being well-known boatbuilders. Since 1864 Mrs. Adamson has liv'ed in' Hawke’s Bay, arriving at the time of the great earthquake. As a girl ip Apcklpml Al rs : Ad&msop saw the’public hanging of the Mukatu murderer, who was the first Maori to be eyecutpd ip Np'Y Zpglgpfh ' Mrs. "Adamson is in complete possession of her faculties, talking in a most sprightly wpy ppd slipwipg ap plprt and retentive me’mpry. She has vivid recollections of many historic persons and ipcidppts. Ner f.apiiiy is contented vyith its rec'prds of Ippggyity. Her prophet ? who died at the age of 94, married a daughter of William Hanson, of Auckland 3 , whp dipd in his hundredth year, and her mother lived to be 92. Her only son, Mr. James Adamson, of Hastings, is 74. She has been a widow for 7J. years.