PPA
EVENTFUL DAYS
New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23530, 15 December 1939, Page 6
ONEHUNGA RESIDENTS SOTH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY ' BOY KIDNAPPED BY MAORIS Descendants of ASckiand pioneers, Mr. and Mrs. George Henry Wells, ' , of Wharf Road, Onehunga, celebrate their golden wedding to-day. Mrs. Wells' parents, Mr. and Mrs. William Mackay, were passengers from Scotland by the ship Jane Gifford in 1842 and Mr. Wells' father and mother arrived in 1862 by the ship Maori, Mr. Wells was born in 1860 in the old immigration barracks, which then occupied .the site upon which the Onehunga railway station now stands. The services of his mother, who wis for a number of years a nurse in Guy's . Hospital, London, were soon in constant demand as a maternity nurse. 4 After the Maori War an old stone building in Princes Street West, Oneliunga, originally used as the headquarters of the Commissariat department, was converted into a hospital and Mrs. Wells, sen., was appointed to the nursing staff. Left to the care of his elder sister George Wells when seven years of age was kidnapped by. Maoris, and taken to Otorohanga, then beyond the confines of civilisation. For the next four years lie wandered about the country with the Maniapoto tribes. About 1876, Mr. .jSVcils recalls, he saw Sir George Grey, the Hon. John Sheehan and other members of the Government who'were negotiating with the Maoris for land for the Main Trunk railway. The terms being settled he accompanied the Maori King Tawhiao and the Maniapoto chieis Tainui and Rawhiti to Auckland, where they-rdulv signed the transfer of the land." "the natives treated me well," he said. "I was given the best of food and clothing, and soon became the pet of the tribe." In the meantime, the boy's mother, had given him up for lost, but he met his sister in Otiehunga, and was eventually restored to his parents, although unable to speak English. ' For a time young Wells obtained employment in Bycroft's original 'flour mill at Onehunga and then went to sea, serving for 25 years on various coastal vessels. Since his retirement Mr. Wells has lived in Onehunga. Mrs. Wells' parents were among the earliest settlers of the Mount Roskili district, where they were engaged .in farming, and where Mrs. Wells was born in 1871. A family reunion will be held to-day. William McKAY immigrated to arrived Auckland 9 oct 1842 on the Jane Gifford in 1842 not on SL.
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