Pioneer Will Be 101 Years Old on Friday

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 753, 28 August 1929, Page 1

Pioneer Will Be 101 Years Old on Friday

Airs. William Onniston Chats to Interviewer LONG PIONEERING LIFE •‘I feel younger than I did on my 100th birthday.” Few people live to make this claim, but Mrs. William Ormiston. of Onehunga —Auckland's only centenarian—is a happy exception to the human rule. On Friday she will be 101 years of age. In 1828, when George IV. was King and the Duke of Wellington was England’s Prime Minister, Mrs. Ormiston was born at Launceston, Cornwall. Today she bids fair to establish a New Zealand record for longevity, and

enjoys good health into the bargain. “I never miss a meal, and I am absolutely free of all aches and pains,” she told a Sun representative who called today. Mrs. Ormiston will celebrate her 101 th anniversary in even happier circumstances than those surrounding her previous one. On that occasion she was recovering from a slight attack of influenza that had depleted her store of strength. Toddy she is as well as one 20 years her junior could wish to be. CONSTANT READER Naturally her facilities are not as alert as they have been, but she still takes an intelligent interest in current events, and is a constant reader of newspapers and magazines. Though comfortably seated before the fire w r ith a periodical on her lap, she insisted upon rising to shake hands with the Sun reporter who called. Still bright of eye and clear complexioned, she talked vigorously of the old days on the farm at Mangapai, and the hard times the farmers of today are passing through. Undoubtedly the hand of time ha% rested gently on this pioneer Englishwoman. Born before the advent of the railway, the steamship or the telegraph, she tells of visits paid by John Wesley to the home of her grandfather when she was a child. She arrived in New Zealand 68 years ago to join her late husband, Ml - . William Ormiston, who had taken up land at Mangapai, near Whangarei. On the outbreak of the Maori War the family was compelled to abandon the property and flee to Auckland, but on the cessation of hostilities Mr. Ormiston returned to his farm, where he died in 1574. For many years he represented Hobson in the old Provincial Council. SIMPLE DIET Mrs. Ormiston, left with three sons and four daughters, carried on until she sold out in 1885. For the past 20 years she has lived with her daughter, Mrs. West, at Onehunga. She ascribes her great age and gcod health to a simple diet based on wholemeal bread. "I have eaten brown bread all my life,” she said. "In our young days we grew our own wheat, and ground it in our own hand-mill.” She has been connected with the Methodist Church all her life, and is a firm believer in the cultivation of a contented mind, and giving thanks to God for all His blessings. Mrs. Ormiston holds, also, a decided opinion on the question of women's dress. ‘‘Short skirts!” she said. “They should be condemned from the pulpit. They are perfectly horrid. It’s rubbish to say the wearing of them is healthy.” The surviving members of her family are Mr. Edward N. Ormiston, Remuera: Mr. John N. Ormiston, Mount Eden; Mrs. J. M. West, Onehunga; Mrs. T. E. Wayte, Remuera; Mrs. J. R. Sinclair, Christchurch; and Mrs. W. A. Sinclair, Epsom. Mrs. Ormiston boasts of 22 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. The birthday celebrations are to be semi-private this year, it being considered injudicious to cause Mrs. Ormiston any undue excitement.