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The Gisborne Photo News

 

3

Going Back Home...

The holding of the 75th anniversary celebrations of the Manutuke School, one of the oldest in the district, took many minds back over the years to the earliest days of the Poverty Bay settlement. But few could go back as far as Mrs Mary Miller, of Waerenga-a-hika, who was an adult young woman of 25 years when the first pupils went to school at Manutuke. She celebrated her 100th birthday on Friday of last week. She has lived on the same farm at Waerenga-a-hika for 70 years. Another with long memories was Mrs A. Wilson, of Richardson Avenue, who was 90 last week. She has lived in the district for 60 years, 50 of which were spent on the same farm at Kanakanaia.

The Manutuke jubilee emphasised the part played by the U'Ren family in the development of the district. Thomas U'Ren (below, right) was the first white child born in Poverty Bay, and his five daughters (below, left, with their mother) all attended Manutuke School. Three of them were at the jubilee: Louise (Mrs Sharp), Vida (Mrs Rose) and Millie (Mrs Talbot). Millie was also a teacher at the school.

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Mrs Miller

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Mrs Wilson