A day full of laughter and music was shared at Bayview Village yesterday, with Mayor Tenby Powell stopping by at morning tea - complete with cake - to give his birthday wishes.
"It is really lovely to be here to share Jemima's 107th birthday - it's just extraordinary," he said.
"I hope I look like you at 107."
"Aunt Mimi', as she is known to her siblings' many descendants, was born on Whiteness in the Shetland Islands in 1913, later moving to Burra Isle as a child.
Her father was a captain in the Merchant Navy and bought a house on Aro St in Wellington while on his travels, and when King was 16, the family moved to New Zealand.
The youngest of five siblings, King married three times - the last marriage being in her seventies. However, she never had any children.
Grice said her aunt has had a "colourful life".
"She's been a very talented lady - artistic and musical," she said. This is evidenced by the violin sat in a display near where King is sat, with her favourite tea set, cards from family, and a coat rack with vintage fur coats which she inherited from her mother alongside.
Just before afternoon tea, two Scottish musicians came to Bayview Village to play for the residents.
Rachel Hair and Ron Jappy have just finished their first New Zealand tour, having been travelling the country for the last month.
Hair said they had received an invite from the staff at Bayview to come and play for King and jumped at the chance when they realised their tour would take them to Paeroa on King's birthday.
it was too close not to travel for it, she said.
The duo, who have been together for three years, played Scottish reels and jigs, with Hair on the clarsach, or Scottish harp, and Jappy on the guitar and fiddle.
The enamoured audience tapped their toes and clapped their hands along to the beat. Hair explained all the tunes before they played, and there were lots included from the Shetlands.
Jappy said that there was a long history of fiddle-playing and Highland dancing in the North of Scotland, with one performer known for doing both at the same time.
"But you're not getting any of that today, so set your expectations a bit lower," he said, to peals of laughter from the audience.
At the end of the performance, they sang "Happy Birthday" as well before pikelets with cream and jam were handed out.
King smiled the whole day.
World events in Jemima King's lifetime
1914-1918: World War I
1937: The crash of the Hindenburg
1941: Japan attacks Pearl Harbour
1969: Man lands on the moon
1976: The first Apple computer
1989: The World Wide Web is invented
2001: September 11 attacks
2012: Queen Elizabeth II celebrates her Diamond Jubilee
