Congregation of Our Lady of Mercy in New Zealand - UC Research ...

0 H.'>.PT ER V •
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Almost ei~hty years , in 1860, provider;t, :Car•-
seei. ,John Lac foP ( 1 ) purchased the excessively
disproportionate area of the province of ~estl
i to pre~:;cnt clay valu.es. Soon aftel"'V·tarcls that il.'resist
e ruagnet - gold. - allured thither flo of cosmop
i tan s of eve v.ralk of li who surged tlu"ough
Hokitika and converted it from an unimportant t
into one of leading ports of thecolony. Dy the of
186h population had 1·1sen fr•ow (2) 100 to , 000 Y:18.ny
o:t' vrhom were Irish Catl10lics anxL\Us thei1~ new hon1es to
secure the ministrations a priest. su:9ply thei:r.' ne
Icev. Pather Ste HaJ.lun was appointed f:l. priest for
the West Coast an(t was ly succe by a chain selfs
u.c :.·if icing men, l1'ostly Ear ist Pathe1•s, vvho exlli bi ted
int
id C;!nstancy in theiP service of l)oth God and man.
r/e find, as a str•one link in ti1is chain, Rev.
ltp I.;artin,
S.l.~.
viho, born in the South of France in 1830, in due tiLe
became a I.~a:dst Pather and volunteered for Australasian
::.iission. After rende valu.able service in
Dunedin anc1 Inverc argi
, Father I.:aPtin was sent to t
his gener·ous,
1. "Zealanclia' October 13tll, 1938, (not signed.)
2. Harist L:essenger. !>.larch 1938. (Editor. )