Who is New Zealand’s longest married couple?

Stuff co.nz 19 November 2015
If you’ve been married for an extremely long time you could be in for a prize for your perseverance.

A competition to find the longest married couple in New Zealand has been launched by conservative lobby group Family First.

The nominations opened on Thursday, with the award to be announced on Valentine’s Day next year.

Family First director Bob McCoskrie said it was a way to find out how long some couples have been married and to honour them for having done “the hard yards”.

McCoskrie said he expected there would be many couples out there who didn’t realise how impressive their long marriages were.

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He said one example in New Zealand was Christchurch couple Bert and Pat Archbold who were married 79 years before Bert passed away in 2013.

A couple in Yorkshire, UK, are believed to have the world’s longest marriage and are due to celebrate their 90th wedding anniversary in December.

McCoskrie said the idea for the New Zealand competition came from similar campaigns in America and Canada, run by the Worldwide Marriage Encounter.

He said winners would receive a family photograph and possibly a weekend getaway – depending on how mobile they were.

The winners can only be eligible from those nominated – and forms must have the couple’s names, wedding date, where they currently reside and contact details.

Entries can be sent to [email protected] or by post to Family First NZ, P.O.Box 276-133, Manukau City 2241 before January 15, 2016.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/love-sex/74224113/who-is-new-zealands-longest-married-couple