100TH BIRTHDAY

Taranaki Daily News, 25 August 1931, Page 3

100TH BIRTHDAY

RESIDENT OF AUCKLAND RESTING AFTER ACCIDENT. WANTS TO BE UP AND-ABOUT. « • One hundred years of age on Saturday, Mrs. Frances Mary Speakman celebrated her birthday in bed at the Auckland Infirmary, not because of infirmity follow-' ing a remarkably long life, but becavisa she fell out of bed about eight months ago and is still suffering somewhat from the shock then received. The ease with which she can recall events belonging to the. dim past, the immediate present and the long vista of intervening years, marks Mrs. Speakman as no ordinary centenarian, says the New Zealand Herald. She is “fair angered” at herself for being so long in bed. “I have had several tumbles before,” she explained, “but I have , never had to go into hospital until this last fall. I was all dressed up this morning to have my photograph taken, and when they put me in'a chair with my feet on the floor I felt I could shove that chair along like a good ’un.” Such is the spirit of Mrs. Speakman, who, widowed over 40 years agd, hai been entirely dependent on her own resources until granted a small pension' about three years ago. She has been' an inmate of the Auckland Infirmary since last December. “The doctor thought it was best for me to come here," she said. “I have no family, and for the nine previous years I stayed with friends. I feel I would like to go back x to them when I am better. I don’t like bed, and I want to be up and „ about, for I can get round pretty well with my two sticks. I have some business to attend to, too.

■ WRECK OF THE ORPHEUS. Born in Appleford, a tiny Berkshire village, not far from Oxford, Mrs. Speakman’s first memory is of the building of a branch railway in the district. She still treasures a Bible, presented to her in 1840 when nine years of age. “They were« more substantial Bibles in those days,” she said. “They had big leather covers on them, you know.” > Accompanied by het husband, Mr. William Speakman, to whom she was married just before leaving England, Mrs. Speakman arrived at Auckland by the ship Matoaka in 1859, after a voyage of 16 weeks from Gravesend. The first port of call was Wellington, where some of the passengers left the ship. A rowing boat brought Mrs. Speakman ashore at 1 Auckland, and landed her at Fort Britomart, a city landmark which has now disappeared. “There- was not much work offering then, and we had to get along as best we could,” said Mrs. Speakman. For some years she and her husband were in the employ of a British officer, stationed in New Zealand during the Maori wars, and they resided in the Onehunga district, near Mount Smart, for some time. Frequently Airs. Speakman has walked the nine miles between Onehunga and Auckland. That was the only practicable way of making the journey in those' days unless one was given a “lift”, in a cart. “I can remember the wreck of the Orpheus at Manukau Heads in 1863,” said Mrs; Speakman. “We were living in Auckland then, and the first news was brought to the town by a man who walked in from Onehunga.” “A STRAGGLING SORT OF WAR." While the Maori wars were still' in progress Mrs'. Speakman opened a store at Mechanics’ Bay. She was evidently

not greatly impressed by the magnitude, of the various campaigns. “It was a straggling sort of war,” she said yesterday with an, air of disdain; “It went to Opotiki and all sorts of country places. I always found the Maoris gave very little trouble. I remember how they used to come to my shop at Mechanics’ Bay and ask for the pies and puddings I sold.” • •. ; Lured by the gold rush, Mr. Speakman went to Thames in 1867. “It was wonderful to see the holes in the hill where the gold came from,” said Mrs. Speakman. “I went down for a while, the boat trip costing five shillings in those days. However, we didn’t gain anything by going there —we only lost,” she added, with a touch of sadness. “AU the luck we had was pot luck.” Later Mrs. Speakman established a grocery and confectionery business at the Newmarket end of Carlton Gore Road. “After I obtained a bit of a start I did fairly well, and I carried on the business for many years,” she said. “I acquired a little property there, too, and that was a help after my husband died.” EXPANSION OF THE CITY. As a resident in the Auckland district for the past 72 years, Mrs. Speakman has watched with keen interest the growth of the city, “It has spread out so,” she said. “I remember London when it was not so very big, and Auckland, has expanded in much the same way. All the little settlements have grown together.” Through motor drives at various times Mrs. Speakman has been able to keep fairly well abreast of the city’s development. “A friend of mine used often to accompany me on a motor drive,” she explained. “However, my friend is not too well just now; you see, she is well over 80,” added Mrs. Speakman, without meaning to be in the slightest degree patronising. “A fine old girl,” she added, reflectively. Rheumatism has troubled Airs. Speakman considerably in recent years. Although she said her eyesight was causing 'her anxiety, she still manages to read a little, and until recently she maintained ■ a regular correspondence with nieces in England. Her hearing does not appear to be at all impaired, while the sprightliness of her conversation and the accuracy and connected nature of her recollections seem to belie her assertion that “things appear to fade a little now.”

lho.se who knew Airs. Speakman when she was in business in Newmarkeb”propose to mark the occasion of her 100th birthday with a party at the Infirmary. The Alayoress of Newmarket, Airs. S. Donaldson, and other well-wishers aro arranging the celebration, which will include' the cutting of a cake carrying 100 candles.

Airs. Speakman has no definite recip) for longevity. She thinks that plain living has as much to do with it as anything else. “But it hasn’t all been easy going,” she added. “I have suffered at times, and I have had about six tumbles lately. Otherwise I should be out and about now.”