PIONEERING ROMANCE

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 955, 24 April 1930, Page 12

PIONEERING ROMANCE

FAMILY REACHED N.Z. IN OWN BOAT DEVONPORT GOLDEN WEDDING A romance of the days of shipbuilding on the East Coast, and of sea-roving immigrants, is recalled | by the golden anniversary, on Saturday next, of the wedding of Mr. and Mrs. D. M. Darroch. of Waterview Road, Devonport. I They were married at Big Omaha | by the late Rev. R. McKenny in ISSO. | There are 12 children—six sons and : six daughters. Mr. Darroch was a boatbuilder by i occupation, following his father in j the trade, as he had followed his I father. The original Darroch shipyard ] was at. Mahurangi at a time when practically every bay from Devonport j to Totara Xorth boasted a shipbuildI ing yard. New Zealand supplied all ! its shipbuilding requirements, and, in I addition, built vessels for the Islands j and Australia. Mr. D. M. Darroch be- ; gan his own establishment at Omaha,

where he built 50 vessels, notably the Eunice, a 30-ton vessel, well known on the YVaitemata. Mrs. Darroch was born at Prince Edward Island, Canada, where her father's family had migrated from Scotland. ADVENTUROUS VOYAGE Driven out of their own land because they refused to change their political views, the family found that Nova Scotia and the adjacent islands were not wholly congenial and stories from the whaling men and reports of the Nova Scotian settlement at Waipu induced them to travel to New Zealand. Mrs. Darroch’s father, with his nine sons, built a ship, and the family set sail. The father, whose name was Meiklejohn, was captain, and the sons formed the crew. Voyaging down the Atlantic to the Cape, they investigated Australia, and finally came to New Zealand. They settled at Omaha. Trouble arose over the ownership of the land they had occupied, and their first season wheat crops were uprooted by agents of the man who claimed the land title. The Meiklejohns eventually consolidated their interests. Mr. Darroch’s grandparents came with the Jane Gifford and the Duchess of Argyle migrants. Both Mr. and Mrs. Darroch enjoy excellent health. Mr. Darroch, who has had a shipyard at Devonport for 12 years, is still a launch enthusiast. * Relations and friends are arranging a celebration on Saturday evening.