HUNDREDTH BIRTHDAY
MR THOMAS BARRETT SOUTHLAND'S OLDEST RESIDENT
LIFETIME OF ADVENTURE
(Special to Daily Times) GORE; July 14. Claiming to be Southland's oldest identity, Mr Thomas Barrett, a wellknown resident of the Waikaka and Crookstown districts, to-day celebrated his 100th birthday with a small gathering of intimate friends. His lifetime has been one of adventure, and within the span of a century he has passed through many exciting experiences, especially on the goldflelds of Australia and New Zealand.
Educated by his parents to enter the legal profession, he left home in his early 'teens, and up to a few years ago he followed a roving life in many wayback parts. Despite his years, he is still in possession of most of his faculties, and he can converse intelligently on the happenings of early days during the Central Otago gold rushes.
Puzzle for Dietitians
Mr Barrett provides a puzzle for dietitians, and he has little time for their methods end fads. "Whisky, I have been told, is a slow poison," he stated in an interview with a representative of the Otago Daily Times, "but I'm satisfied now that it's a very slow poison indeed. I first started drinking it 85 years ago, and here I am, like Johnny Walker, still going strong. Some of the best brains in the country have tried to convince me that by strict dieting and total abstinence I might live to a ripe old age. I've drunk what I liked and I've eaten what I liked, and I'm none the worse for it. One of my best friends, a Tasmanian lady with the degrees B.A. and B.Sc. often told me that I would die young," he added. "She couldn't keep herself alive — she died at 42 and I've seen another 60 years. My advice is don't over eat; I found that out before I was 20. Indigestion troubled me in my youth, and so I made up my mind to eat sparingly, work hard and keep regular habits. The result? I've no aches, no pains, no rheumatism, and a century gone by." Into that century "Old Tom," as he is familiarly known, has crammed a lifetime of excitement and adventure. He has roved into many remote parts in New Zealand and Australia, worked among the hard-living miners of the early-day goldfields, driven for the famous coaching firm of Cobb and Co., fraternised with Ned Divine, the prince cf whips, and thrilled to the daring exploits of Ned Kelly and his gang of bushrangers.
Adventure in His Blood
Mr Barrett was born at Newtown (Tasmania) on July 14, 1840. A son of a veterinary surgeon, he was given the benefit of a good education, a rare thing in the early days of the colonies, but he did not feel disposed to settle down and take advantage of it. Tales of the mainland tingled in his blood, and at the age of 17 he gathered together a few belongings and left the family circle bound for Australia.
His ambition and enterprise soon resulted in his obtaining employment in the coaching business on the goldfields of Ballarat and Bendigo districts, which were crowded with miners of every race and creed seeking wealth from the soil. By 1872 Mr Barrett had been hardened by the vicissitudes of life, and he decided to seek his fortune elsewhere, choosing New Zealand as a land promising further adventure.
Arriving at Port Chalmers, he soon found employment with Cobb and Co. on the Central Otago coach route. About 1878 he severed his connection with the firm, and proceeded to Beaumont, where an hotel, which was destroyed by fire a few years ago, had just been built by Mr J. F. Kitching, and after a short period there he moved to Dunedin to take up employment at the Fernhill Club.
Seeking country life again, Mr. Barrett worked in various parts of Central Otago until 1904, when he went south to Milton, where he was employed around the diggings at Adam's Flat. His rovings took him into many strange places, and eventually, about 23 years ago, he settled in Eastern Southland in the Waikaka district.
Life in the Goldfields
A period as mail carrier from Cromwell gave Mr Barrett an insight into the life of the diggings in the Nevis Valley. He worked for Starkey and Scalley, who owned the main hotel at Cromwell, and paid regular visits to outlying centres. He had many adventurous trips over the Carrick Range, and even found time to prospect a little. Strangely enough he has .never had much inclination to try his luck on the goldfields of Victoria, Cromwell, the Nevis, or Waikaka Valley, but it is his firm belief that there still remains much gold to be mined in the various centres.
"The introduction of the motor is the worst thing that has happened to the Dominion," remarked Mr Barrett. "There was no unemployment in the coaching days. Oats sold at 6s and 7s a bushel, and the farmers prospered; blacksmiths, drivers, grooms, and wheelwrights were in demand: and Cobb and Co. alone owned 2000 horses in Otago and Southland."
Mr Barrett mentioned the following whips and employees of Cobb and Co. and other private firms of half a century ago: — P. B. Williams, who was on the Balclutha-Mataura via Clinton and Otaraia. run; Harry Yeend, Dunedin-Balclutha; Joseph Mills, the mountain road to Dunstan; James Carmichael, the first man to drive on the main Dunstan road; Harry Nettleford, Palmerston-Naseby; K. ("Long") Carter, Central Otago routes; James Mcintosh, the first to drive from Dunedin to Clutha; John Knox, Dunedin-Balclutha; Chaplin, Hoyt. and Co., Israel Haigh, W. H. Shepperd, W. Crawley, Thomas Pope (Tokomairiro-Lawrence-Cromwell-Queenstown), G. Langley (Tokomairiro), Charles Cole and Leander Cole. J. M. Sutherland (Dunstan routes), Crosbie (Lumsden-Te Anau), W. H. Brayton (Invercargill-Kingston), E. B. Williams (Clutha-Mataura), William Flint (Invercargill-Queenstown), John McKenzie (one of Flint's drivers), W. Duff, and Robert Craig (Roxburgh-Lawrence), and Adam McDonald (Dunstan), who was the last driver of the coach service before the motor service was inaugurated.
Plain Diet Sought
"I've spent all my life working, and I hope to go on doing so till I die," he stated. "I don't eat vegetables, and I've no use for puddings. It's perhaps 70 years since I ate an egg and as for potatoes, well I might taste a little now and again. Just plain bread, butter, jam, and cheese, with a piece of steak and a glass or two of milk are all that any man should want.”
Mr Barrett’s life has been remarkably free from illness, and a few weeks in hospital when he was 80 years old as a result of bronchial trouble is the only period he has been laid up. He still retains all his faculties practically unimpaired, and daily he takes a walk to the Waikaka township from his bach.
Mr Barrett never married, and as far as is known he has no living relatives. -Otago Daily Times, 15/7/1940.
101 YEARS OLD
Waikaka Resident
(PA.) INVERCARGILL. July 15. “He is looking even better than he was at this time last year and he appears to be still enjoying good health.” In these words a resident of Waikaka referred to Mr Thomas Barrett, of Waikaka, Southland’s oldest resident, who celebrated his 101st birthday to-day. He visits the township about twice a week, and his faculties are practically unimpaired. He was born in Tasmania and his life has been one of continuous adventure since 1857, when at the age of 17 he set out from his home town, Newton, for Australia. Since then he has travelled the length and breadth of Australia and New Zealand, has groomed and driven for famous coaching firms, worked on goldfields and in other occupations. He has not married and now lives at Waikaka. He has been in illhealth for only one short period in his long life. This was when he spent a few weeks in hospital because of bronchial trouble. -Timaru Herald, 16/7/1941.
104 YEARS OLD
WAIKAKA OLD IDENTITY
Mr Thomas Barrett, of Waikaka, yesterday celebrated his one hundred and fourth birthday (says the 'Southland Times'). Still-enjoying good health, he makes periodical visits to the Royal Hotel, Waikaka, to sample what the proprietor may have to offer. Yesterday was one of those special occasions when he was the guest of the management. The self-imposed duty of attending to his welfare is undertaken by Mr T. Corcoran, who visits his hut if Mr Barrett has not been seen about the township.
Claiming that he was born in Newtown (Hobart) in 1840, the son of a veterinary surgeon, Mr Barrett declined to follow the career mapped out for him by his parents. He came to New Zealand in 1872 after spending some time driving coaches on the mainland of Australia. As a driver in the firm of Cobb and Company, he came to have an intimate knowledge of the roads in Otago. He resigned his position in 1878. Becoming a mail carrier at Cromwell after a short stay in Dunedin, he succumbed to the temptation to prospect for gold, going to Milton in 1915 to work on the Adams Flat diggings.
Mr Barrett is well known in the Waikaka and Crookston districts, where he accepted casual work 26 years ago. Although his sight is not so good as it was a few years ago, he has up to recently been a wide reader, and in his hut, lit by a kerosene lamp, has delved into the works of Dickens and other distinguished authors. He has definite ideas about diet, and does not believe in overeating. -Evening Star, 15/7/1944.
Personal
Mr Thomas Barrett, of Waikaka, Southland, celebrated his l06th birthday yesterday. Although he has been an inmate of Gore Hospital since last Christmas, he is not bedridden and goes for a walk every day. He was born at Newtoun, Tasmania, on July 14, 1840. -Northern Advocate, 14/7/1946.
Recorded Interview
A recorded interview with Mr Thomas Barrett, the Gore resident who believes that his age is 109, is to be broadcast by Station 4YA at 7 p.m. on August 18. -Otago Daily Times, 13/8/1949.
Gore Resident Believed To Be 110 Today
A birthday cake bearing 110 candles will be presented to Mr Thomas Barrett in the Gore Hospital today to celebrate his birthday. Mr Barrett, who lived at Waikaka for a number of years and has been a resident of Otago and Southland since 1868, will celebrate what he claims will be his 110th birthday.
Although he cannot obtain proof of his great age, the matron of the Gore Hospital told the Daily Times yesterday that an elderly patient at the hospital some years ago had declared that his father had known Mr Barrett many years before and had substantiated his claim to being so old.
“Mr Barrett is still very alert and reads avidly,” the matron said. He received the Otago Daily Times every day, she said, and few people read a newspaper more thoroughly than he did. Although he wore glasses for reading, she had frequently seen him without them while following this pastime. “Everyone makes a fuss of him because of his cheery disposition.” the matron said, “and there will be a special morning tea for him and the other patients in his ward to celebrate his birthday.
Mr Barrett says that he was born in Newtown, Tasmania, on July 14, 1840. He received his education there. His father was a veterinary surgeon and wanted his son to follow in his footsteps, but the boy had different ideas and left for the mainland of Australia when he was 17. He entered the coaching business as a driver, and remained in this occupation for 10 years. One of his runs was between Ballarat and Bendigo.
Many of his passengers were New Zealanders visiting Australia for business or pleasure, and he became fired with the idea of starting afresh in the younger dominion. He set out soon after making his decision, and landed at Port Chalmers in 1868. His coaching experience stood him in good stead, and he secured employment with Cobb and Co. He continued in the company’s employment for 10 years and gained an intimate knowledge of Otago roads.
He resigned nis position in 1878 and worked in Dunedin for a time before taking a job as mail carrier to Cromwell. He followed this by taking up prospecting for gold around Central Otago, and spent some time on the diggings at Adams Flat. After working at various jobs in the Waikaka and Crookston districts for a period, he retired and lived in a hut at Waikaka. Most of his time was devoted to reading, and he still has a knowledge of the classics and maintains an interest in present-day affairs.
Mr Barrett was quite active when well over 100 years of age and used to walk about without difficulty until about four years ago, when he became an inmate of the Gore Hospital. -Otago Daily Times, 14/7/1950.
Death of Centenarian
The death occurred at Gore on Saturday of Mr Thomas Barrett, of Waikaka, aged 111 years. Mr Barrett who was a patient in the Gore Hospital for the last five years, was said to be the oldest resident of New Zealand. He claimed he was born in Newton, Tasmania, a few months after the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. In his younger days he was a coach driver between Ballarat and Bendigo and in Otago. — (P. A) -Press, 26/11/1951.
No comments:
Post a Comment