Newspaper Article – Macdonald family reunion

Macdonald family reunion

About 90 members of the Macdonald family of Mangatarata, near Waipukurau, gathered at the station homestead at the weekend for a family reunion.

They have come from throughout the North Island, and also include representatives of the South African branch of the family.

They are the descendants of Duncan, Geordie and Donald Macdonald whose parents, James and Ann, married in Urquhart, Scotland, in 1865, and then emigrated to New Zealand.

James Macdonald settled near Dannevirke and then Havelock North before moving to Central Hawke’s Bay, where he took up land in 1908.

The section was later bought in 1920.

The present homestead, built in 1897, replaced the original which was destroyed by fire a year earlier.

A great great grandson, Donald Macdonald, and his wife Judy, the present owners, occupy the homestead but the station is jointly owned by Donald and his father-in-law, Mr Charlie Anderton.

A roll call, luncheon and happy hour, plus a display of photographs and a family tree were included in the programme.

Photo caption – Part of the 89-year-old Macdonald homestead