THE LATE MRS GEORGE HAY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2808, 8 January 1908, Page 37

THE LATE MRS GEORGE HAY.

(CONTRIBUTED.) On the last day of fhe year there passed away at .Romahapa a link connecting the present with the past history of- Otago, in the person of- Mrs Hay, relict of Mr George Hay. She wa,s 96 years of age, born at Keijh/ Banffshire, and arrived by the Ajax (Captain Young), January '6, 1849. After spending six weeks* in a tent air Port Chalmers, 6he, with her late husband, sailed in an almost open boat, the Jumping Jackass, for Port Molyneux, and was>landed near Willsher Bay. - She .had- with her her young infant 6on John, who afterwards became chief surveyor of Otago. The landing was a - "thrilling experience, - old Makariri, Willsher's wife, taking charge of the- baby through the surf. For a- few years the^ home of*4he Hays was behind Willsher's • place, where" they lived a happy and simple life. ! Tho day's food was 'largely found by their son Willie, by shooting "and fishinsr. For 54 years her home has been at Hilly Park, Romohapa. She leaves behind her three sons and two daughters, 50 grandchildren, and 30 great grandchildren. Mrs Peter Miller, of this city, is one of her daughters, and Mr W. G. Hay, solicitor, her grandson. Many a time in the early .days had Mrs Hay walked all the way to Dunedin and' back, some 65 miles each way. On one' occasion she carried her infant son James all ' the way. At 'Tokomaririo the river was "so flooded that a Maori mold had to be built" to carry the party over. Many. a too the writer heard from her own tips her experiences — experiences thai; would! •stonifih the younger generation. From those early days until the present Hays homestead has been noted for its generous hospitality. Many.._a wayfarer enjoyed the cheerful .welcome* and hearty homely comfort of Hilly Park ; and in these early time* of colonisation a centre such as that was •was a bteesing- that it is now impossible ±o estimate. Mr William Hay, the deceased's eldest -son, has been a member of the'Clutha County Council for 27 years, and chairman of *that body over and over again. Her .daughter Jane became the wife of Mr John Begg, of Lochnagar, in the* Highlands of Scotland. Her late .Majesty, Que<*" Victoria, became deeply attache^ *■- ' j.nd on the death of Mrs Jo*-- -.ome 10 years ago the Londo? _,-.^rs alluded to the, esteem and friendship that had existed between her Majesty and Mrs Begg. ,The funeral, which took plaoe on the 2nd at the Puerua Cemetery, was one of the- largest j ever seen in the district, a great many old settlers being present, among them feeing the Hay, family, .Messrs Jas. Patereon sand Sons, Shiele, Jenkinson, Bui- ■ loot,' Tilson, M'Lay, M'lntosh, Lindsay, Wilsons, A. Melville, MTioar, Latta, A. Saunders, Thos. Mackenzie, M.P., A. Simpson, -M'Laren, Wyley, G. Smith, Abernethy, J. Hutton, B. Sinclair, Jackman, Peter Miller, Murray, King (Maori chiei), and many others. The Rev. Mr Dalrymple, M.A., officiated at the and grave.. The volume of the Scriptures from which he read had the following on ite first first page :'—r" To Mr George Willsher, , Molyneux Harbour, New Zealand, from Kobert Cole, M.A., minister, of the 'Church of England for the district of Wellington, , May 18, 1844." ' The late Mr George Hay died in 1876, «,nd now, after 32 years, his wife is laid to rest by his side in the lovely Puerua Cemetery. The " passing " of a good ■woman like Mrs Hay, full of years and full of honour, conveys no feeling of sadness. She * was ripe for another sphere. , The service at the grave, with its sur- j roundings, might with truth be called 'foeautiful. The gentle and scholarly clergyman read and prayed with feeling . and devotion. The sun shone brightlyoverhead, and the air was full of the music of birds and the perfume of Nature's irees. The' kowhais, totaras, black pines jn and surrounding the cemetery were perfect in their beauty, while immediately behind groves, of rata were bursting into 4& glorious crimson, the background being filled in with almost untouched native forest. • . l .

16 seems that the lupjn, which is doing Such beneficent, work in reclaiming the gand { dunes along the* coast, has, at _ this Reason of the year, a decided drawback, inasmuch as it- is - extremely likely to take Kir©. . The Lyttelton Times reports that on Boxing Bay, at New Brighton, a serious joomfiagrataon raged for hours, and- endangered a number of dwellings. <