Mary Ann Adamson

END OF LONG LIFE. HASTINGS CENTENARIAN MRS. MARY ANN ADAMSON KEEN INTEREST IN AVIATION. [BY TELEGRAPH - PRESS ASSOCIATION] HASTINGS, Thursday The death has occurred of Mrs. Mary Ann Adamson, of Hastings, who attained the age of 101 years on November 20. Mrs. Adamson was particularly active until shortly before her death, and only last Sunday attended church. She died quietly in her sleep at three o'clock this morning. It is thought that Mrs. Adamson was the oldest colonial-born inhabitant in the Empire, having been born at Hobart, Tasmania, in 1833. She was brought to New Zealand at the age of two years, and lived in the country for an unbroken period of 99 years. She had lived in the Hastings district since 1864. On her 99th birthday Mrs. Adamson went for .an aeroplane ride in Hastings, and later, when Sir Charles Kingsford Smith visited the district, she again went aloft. She made her third flight only a few weeks ago in an aeroplane piloted by Miss Jean Batten. At the conclusion of her first flight Mrs. Adamson was made a life honorary member of the Hawke's Bay and East Coast Aero Club. As a little girl of seven years of age Mrs. Adamson was present at the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. Also she was present at the burial of Governor Hobson in the Grafton cemetery, Auckland. Other links with the early history of this country were her vivid memories of Bishop Selwyn, whom she remembered as an itinerant Samaritan on his visits to Coromandel, where her parents once lived. Mrs. Adamson lived the philosophy of cheerfulness, and was a great believer in not worrying and in quietness and cheerfulness. It was typical of her spirit that when the great earthquake occurred here in 1931, she remained in her house and ignored all suggestions that she should allow herself to be led out by the arm, It was her second experience of disasters of the kind, for she arrived at Napier on the day of the major earthquake of 1867, when the first sight that greeted her eyes was a collection of debris-littered streets and shops. In 1835 Mr. and Mrs. Anderson, the parents of Mrs. Adamson, with herself and her brother Thomas, came to New Zealand, and landed at Hokianga. They were guided into the bush by a party of Maoris who had been engaged to lead them to the Bay of Islands on the other coast, but the journey had not been long begun when the Maoris turned treacherous and robbed the party of every possession except the clothes that they were wearing. The party was in great difficulties when one Maori returned and by gestures managed to indicate to them the route that they should take. At last they reached the Bay, and Mrs. Adamson used to recall with a merry chuckle that incident and many others equally stirring in the early days of colonisation. Not the .least notable of the'incidents that she saw in those days in the North was the destruction of the flagstaff at Kororareka by Hone Heke and bin followers. Mr. Adamson died some 70 years ago. Source: New Zealand Herald (30 November 1934, p. 13).

Mary Ann Adamson (Anderson): New Zealander Jean Batten's flying feats of the 1930s made her an international celebrity, and her leading-lady good looks dubbed her the nickname Garbo of the skies, after the sultry moving pictures star, Greta Garbo. The daring and record-breaking aviatrix from Rotorua inspired many women. While it would take decades before society would even contemplate women being equals with men in terms of vocations and societal standing, many women who listened to Jean speak must have quietly gathered inner confidence in what it was possible for them to achieve. Jean Batten came to Hawke's Bay in August 1934, and eagerly awaiting her was 100-year-old Mary Ann Adamson (1833-1934) of Hastings, who was quite a character. Mary had become a national celebrity in her own right when, aged 99, in November 1932, she went for a flight with Hawke's Bay and East Coast Aero Club's pilot, flying-officer Gerrant. On landing, she was made a life member of the aero club. After the flight, as part of Hastings' rebuilding carnival after the 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake, Hastings mayor G F Roach, crowned Mary the carnival queen. Napier commissioner J S Barton and Napier mayor J Vigor Brown were also present to offer their congratulations. Napier's rebuilding carnival occurred in January 1933, and Charles Kingsford Smith flew into Napier for the occasion while on a New Zealand tour. Mary, who had the flying bug, went up with him. Mary's August 1934 flight with Jean Batten took place from the Hastings aerodrome. They made history for being the youngest and oldest members of an aero club, as Jean was also made a life member on arrival in Hastings. Mary Adamson was thought to be the oldest born British colonial, having been born in Hobart, Australia, in 1833. Her family came to New Zealand in 1835, living in Hokianga first. They had walked to the Bay of Islands through roadless bush and asked a group of Maori to guide them, but instead were robbed of everything except their clothes they wore. Fortunately, one of the older Maori in the party returned and pointed them in the direction of Russell. At age 7, Mary was present at the ceremony when Governor Hobson declared British sovereignty over New Zealand in January 1840. She remembered the incident when Hone Heke destroyed the flagstaff at Russell and was present at the ceremony when it was formally re-erected. When a Maori, Maketu, was convicted of murder in 1842, Mary and a friend skipped school to watch his hanging on March 7. He was the first person legally hanged in New Zealand. Mary came to Napier in 1864 and remembered it being the "merest village". Ten days after celebrating her 101st birthday, she passed away on November 30, 1934. At her birthday, where she wore a frock she made at age 30, she told a reporter that "gardening is a little past me now". The Reverend D J Shaw from her church (Presbyterian) told her she was known the world over because of her aeroplane flights. There were 101 candles crowded on to her cake, and she blew them all out. "My hair never seems to get white, but I thank God I am as well as I am," she told assembled friends and family. Mary was a tireless worker for the community, and a member of the Women's Christian Temperance Union. Just before her death, she had said: "When I pass on, I hope no one will spend money on costly wreaths for me. Let them bring flowers, their own flowers, but give their money to feed and clothe the needy." Source: New Zealand Herald (6 October 2018).

Sources

1. New Zealand Herald (30 November 1934, p. 13). https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19341130.2.118
2. New Zealand Herald (6 October 2018): https://www.nzherald.co.nz/hawkes-bay-today/news/jean-batten-flew-b...