DEATH OE A WELL-KNOWN SETTLER.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXII, Issue 873, 2 August 1910, Page 3

DEATH OE A WELL-KNOWN SETTLER.

Auckland, July 30

A well-known resident of the north, Mrs Annie Yates (widow of the late Samuel Yates) died at her residence, Parengarenga, yesterday. The deceased was the largest landholder in the North Island, Parengarenga, being virtually a little kingdom of itself, and the late Mr Yates was long known as the “King of the North.” It was Mr and Mrs Yates who presented to the Government seventy acres of the island on which Cape Maria Van Diemen lighthouse is erected. The Yates family own no less than 67,501 acres freehold, and also lease another 20,007 acres. This area includes all the most northern portion of New Zealand, from Te Reiuga (the point where the spirits of the old Maoris were supposed to plunge off into the unknown) down to Matapa on the east coast, and on the west coast for a succession of 60 to 70 miles. The boundarv is the Ocean beach faced with a succession of hills, at the back of which is a well watered fairly level district.

Mrs Yates was one of the most respected women in the north, and a most interesting woman to talk to, as she had her mind stored with old Maori lore, being herself a descendant of the Ngapuhi’s. Deceased was of a kindly nature, although at the same time a good business woman, and managed her vast interests with the assistance of her sons, since the decease of her husband. Deceased left three sons and three daughters.