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Taranaki Daily News, 21 March 1935, Page 2

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LAST OF CARRINGTONS DIES. MRS. ADA DOWNES, WANGANUI. Mrs. Ada Downes, the last remaining member of the family of Mr. F. A. Carrington, the “''father of New Plymouth,” died at Wanganui yesterday at 'the age of 89 after a short illness. Mrs. Downes was born in England in 1846, when her father had returned to England after seeing the infant settlement established. The whole family, four daughters and a son, came to New Zealand again some time later and took up residence at New Plymouth. Here Mrs. Downes remained for the greater part of her life, witnessing and taking part with the other members of the Carrington family in the vigorous growth of the province. The name Carrington was to appear often in the records of Taranaki’s progress. Miss Ada Carrington married Captain Manners of the 57th Regiment, and following his death, Mr. Henderson, engineer in charge of railway construction in New Zealand. It was as Mrs. Henderson that she opened the New Ply-mouth-Waitara railway in 1873. After the death of Mr. Henderson she married Mr. W. F. Downes, manager of the Bank of New South Wales at Wanganui, where she spent the last 25 years of her life. Mrs. Downes retained all her faculties until her death, being a keen reader. Mrs. Downes’ father, Mr. F. A. Carrington, was actively connected, with public bodies at New Plymouth for many years. He was the last superintendent of the province under the old provincial scheme, and was later for many years Parliamentary representative for the district. He laid the foundation stone of the New Plymouth harbour works in 1884. The Carringtons were a long-lived family. Mr. F. A. Carrington, the father, died in 1904 at the age of 93, Mrs. Van Rotter, Auckland, a daughter, at the age of 94, Miss J. Carrington at 84, Mrs. O. Deacon, another daughter, at 75, and the son, Mr. F. Carrington, at an advanced age. Mrs. Downes leaves a daughter. Miss Henderson, Wanganui, while Mr. E. W. Deacon, New Plymouth, Mr. S. C. Deacon, Wairoa (Hawke’s Bay), and Miss Deacon, New Plymouth, are nephews and niece. respectively. There are several step-children.