PIONEER’S BIRTHDAY

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 955, 24 April 1930, Page 11

PIONEER’S BIRTHDAY

EARLY DAYS REMEMBERED EIGHTY YEARS IN AUCKLAND 0 The ninetieth birthday .of Mr. Charles W. C. Smith, of Grey Lynn, for 80 years resident in New Zealand, will be celebrated on Saturday. Mr. Smith, who was, born in Tasmania, came to the Dominion with his parents in the brig Isabella when only 10 years of age. He worked in the timber industry at Onehunga, later moving to TharAcs, where he spent t) years of his life. Three years ago he celebrated his diamond wedding, the marriage having been solemnised at Onehunga by the late Rev. Dr. Purchas. Mrs. Smith has since died. Maoris living in tents on the waterfront are among Mr. Smith’s memories. When he landed from the Isabella he was brought ashore by a rowing boat, landing near the foot of Shortland Street. His father 'had bought a section in Queen Street near the site of the present Bank of New Zealand, paying 28s for the land, but he sold it later for the same amount, as he thought it too swampy. Mr. Smith remembers the wreck of H.M.S. Orpheus on the Manukau Bar. He was then working at Huia. Mr. Smith, who claims to be the oldest New Zealand member of the Oddfellows’ Itodge, is still in excellent health.