This is a bit weird. As you now know, I travelled extensively across New Zealand and Australia a couple of years ago, and wrote a big blog. A year later my cousin Heather followed in my footsteps on a similar trip.
Well, the other day my Grandma found a big box of letters, diaries, pictures and newspapers in her attic. They dated from the turn of the nineteenth century.
My cousin Heather, Grandma and I got ourselves settled with cups of tea and started trying to read the letters out to each other. Some of them we couldn't make out at all, with their spidery ink scrawl.
Then I found a sheaf of letters written by two ladies travelling around New Zealand and Australia in 1888. They had been to the same places that Heather and I had visited on our own travels, 120 years later.
This is the blog of Anna and Eliza Cairns.
Eliza is Anna's mother, and we think Anna is about 14 years old. The letters are addressed to Elliot (Eliza's son) and Mamie (Elliot's wife).
Sarah
Tuesday, 11 March 2008
Sunday, 9 March 2008
Christchurch, New Zealand, 23rd April 1888
Royal Hotel
Christchurch
23rd April 1888
My dearest Elliot,
These New Zealand mails are the most troublesome things I know. There was no mail between the 4th of April and the 20th, and now there is another on the 26th and there will, I think, be another on the 1st or 2nd of May - that is another week. Then, I suppose, we shall have to wait for a fortnight.
We have had no letters from home since the beginning of this month. I do not know if any English mails have been in, but I scarcely think so as General Algar has not received any letters either, and Alice or Willie write to him pretty regularly. I hope there will be letters either tomorrow or the next day.
You cannot understand how I long for letters from you all. I dream of them at night and sometimes I wake up in a fright thinking I have heard bad news. I have felt particularly depressed lately and I most sincerely trust I shall not get bad news - that I shall hear that you and Mamie and Fred are quite well. Anna and I are both well.
I think she is certainly stronger. She has gone off this morning to her school. This is the last week of the school and she wants to work pretty hard so as to get the full benefit of it. I was thinking of getting her some lessons with Mr Gear, but I find he charges 7 s/ a lesson and, as Anna would want twice a week, it would come to too much.
I expect Anna has told Mamie most of the news up to last Friday so I will only now tell you what has happened since then.
She had a great hurry to finish off her letter and her sketches for you in time for the post. Visitors of course, came to interrupt us. But we did get off at last to post the letter. One of our visitors - Miss Bowen - asked Anna to go yachting with her and her sisters the next day. We were invited to go to lunch with the Bowens on Sunday but Miss Bowen came to ask Anna to do this instead. Another visitor, Mrs Hallam, asked us to lunch on Sunday, which we accepted.
Later on Anna began to think that she did not at all like the idea of going yachting with a number of strangers and without me and she began casting about for an excuse. There was a very cold wind blowing the next morning and Anna declared she was catching cold so we tried to telegraph out to the Bowens that Anna would not go with them, but there was no telegraph office out at Riccarton, [ed: a major residential suburb of Christchurch] so I had to tell Miss Bowen when she called for Anna.
In the mean-time Anna had gone off to the rink with the Nidwill girls. She was in a great fright that she should meet the Bowens when she left the rink but she escaped that trouble. The rink is a new institution here and all the people are quite mad about it. It is free in the morning for the ladies to go and learn. I went one morning with Anna and it was very ridiculous to see the girls tumbling about.
In the evening it is the best fun as all the men go then, and they do not seem to care what idiots they make of themselves. They hang onto each others coat tails and go round in a string, and all fall down together. Anna and I shrieked with laughter at them. We are going again next Wednesday evening, if it is fine, to enjoy the sight.
Anna had some tennis on Saturday afternoon, but I had a very dull day. I was going for a drive with Mrs Nidwill but I had to sit and talk to her instead as she did not feel well enough to drive. Yesterday we went out to the Hallam's. They are such nice people. We like them more and more. You would like them particularly. They have just bought such a pretty mare. It is a bright chestnut with a white mark in the face, and she stands pretty high and seems to have very good paces, and they only gave £13 for it!
It is not in very good condition just now, but in a month or two it will be alright -it is only just four years old. I suppose a horse like that at home would be worth at least £60 or £70. I wish I could send it home to you. I wonder what it cost to send a horse home from here and whether it would be worth the risk. I will ask Mr Hallam the next time I see him.
This afternoon I am going, if Mr Nidwill is well enough to take me, to call on some people of the name of Chipold. They are very rich and yet two of their sons, who farm their father's property, do all the work of the farm themselves. They follow the plough and look after their sheep and scarcely employ any kind of labour. It is the only way here to make things pay.
Men here do all sorts of work. You hear of the sons of noblemen doing what they call 'rabbiting' - that is trapping and killing rabbits. There are some that are clerks in an office. The gentleman's son has become a farmer, which is scarcely supposed to be a gentlemanly profession at times. In fact they will do anything to make money.
General Algar is away in the country staying at a station with some people of the name of Wharton. They have 56,000 sheep in their run, besides cattle and horses. General Algar says it is a most lovely life as there are no other people for miles around and I believe Mrs Wharton is the only lady. There are Mrs Wharton, Mrs Wharton's two young brothers and another young fellow all living in the house. The men are out riding after their sheep and cattle all day.
Last Sunday I went to church with a Mrs Irvine who knows Willie Cairns very well. Her husband was at college with Willie and they are both great friends of his. I have not met Mr Irvine yet. He had a run near the mountains not far from here but he failed. Mrs Irvine told me that when they first came out they had a very comfortable income but that now they have nearly lost it all. They do not seem to be badly off, however, judging from the way they are living now.
Christchurch
23rd April 1888
My dearest Elliot,
These New Zealand mails are the most troublesome things I know. There was no mail between the 4th of April and the 20th, and now there is another on the 26th and there will, I think, be another on the 1st or 2nd of May - that is another week. Then, I suppose, we shall have to wait for a fortnight.
We have had no letters from home since the beginning of this month. I do not know if any English mails have been in, but I scarcely think so as General Algar has not received any letters either, and Alice or Willie write to him pretty regularly. I hope there will be letters either tomorrow or the next day.
You cannot understand how I long for letters from you all. I dream of them at night and sometimes I wake up in a fright thinking I have heard bad news. I have felt particularly depressed lately and I most sincerely trust I shall not get bad news - that I shall hear that you and Mamie and Fred are quite well. Anna and I are both well.
I think she is certainly stronger. She has gone off this morning to her school. This is the last week of the school and she wants to work pretty hard so as to get the full benefit of it. I was thinking of getting her some lessons with Mr Gear, but I find he charges 7 s/ a lesson and, as Anna would want twice a week, it would come to too much.
I expect Anna has told Mamie most of the news up to last Friday so I will only now tell you what has happened since then.
She had a great hurry to finish off her letter and her sketches for you in time for the post. Visitors of course, came to interrupt us. But we did get off at last to post the letter. One of our visitors - Miss Bowen - asked Anna to go yachting with her and her sisters the next day. We were invited to go to lunch with the Bowens on Sunday but Miss Bowen came to ask Anna to do this instead. Another visitor, Mrs Hallam, asked us to lunch on Sunday, which we accepted.
Later on Anna began to think that she did not at all like the idea of going yachting with a number of strangers and without me and she began casting about for an excuse. There was a very cold wind blowing the next morning and Anna declared she was catching cold so we tried to telegraph out to the Bowens that Anna would not go with them, but there was no telegraph office out at Riccarton, [ed: a major residential suburb of Christchurch] so I had to tell Miss Bowen when she called for Anna.
In the mean-time Anna had gone off to the rink with the Nidwill girls. She was in a great fright that she should meet the Bowens when she left the rink but she escaped that trouble. The rink is a new institution here and all the people are quite mad about it. It is free in the morning for the ladies to go and learn. I went one morning with Anna and it was very ridiculous to see the girls tumbling about.
In the evening it is the best fun as all the men go then, and they do not seem to care what idiots they make of themselves. They hang onto each others coat tails and go round in a string, and all fall down together. Anna and I shrieked with laughter at them. We are going again next Wednesday evening, if it is fine, to enjoy the sight.
Anna had some tennis on Saturday afternoon, but I had a very dull day. I was going for a drive with Mrs Nidwill but I had to sit and talk to her instead as she did not feel well enough to drive. Yesterday we went out to the Hallam's. They are such nice people. We like them more and more. You would like them particularly. They have just bought such a pretty mare. It is a bright chestnut with a white mark in the face, and she stands pretty high and seems to have very good paces, and they only gave £13 for it!
It is not in very good condition just now, but in a month or two it will be alright -it is only just four years old. I suppose a horse like that at home would be worth at least £60 or £70. I wish I could send it home to you. I wonder what it cost to send a horse home from here and whether it would be worth the risk. I will ask Mr Hallam the next time I see him.
This afternoon I am going, if Mr Nidwill is well enough to take me, to call on some people of the name of Chipold. They are very rich and yet two of their sons, who farm their father's property, do all the work of the farm themselves. They follow the plough and look after their sheep and scarcely employ any kind of labour. It is the only way here to make things pay.
Men here do all sorts of work. You hear of the sons of noblemen doing what they call 'rabbiting' - that is trapping and killing rabbits. There are some that are clerks in an office. The gentleman's son has become a farmer, which is scarcely supposed to be a gentlemanly profession at times. In fact they will do anything to make money.
General Algar is away in the country staying at a station with some people of the name of Wharton. They have 56,000 sheep in their run, besides cattle and horses. General Algar says it is a most lovely life as there are no other people for miles around and I believe Mrs Wharton is the only lady. There are Mrs Wharton, Mrs Wharton's two young brothers and another young fellow all living in the house. The men are out riding after their sheep and cattle all day.
Last Sunday I went to church with a Mrs Irvine who knows Willie Cairns very well. Her husband was at college with Willie and they are both great friends of his. I have not met Mr Irvine yet. He had a run near the mountains not far from here but he failed. Mrs Irvine told me that when they first came out they had a very comfortable income but that now they have nearly lost it all. They do not seem to be badly off, however, judging from the way they are living now.
Christchurch, New Zealand, 30th April, 1888
Royal Hotel
Christchurch
30 April 1888
My dearest Mamie,
I was so delighted to get two letters from you today and one from Elliot – finishing one of yours. I don't understand how it is you have not heard from me. I write at every opportunity to one or other of you. In his last letter Fred says he received a letter from me from King Gengis Sound, and he says he would have sent the letter on to you as I asked him to do but he did not know your address. I know I asked both you and him to exchange some of my letters as it is difficult to tell exactly the same news to each one.
How very tiresome it must be for you not to know when the Regiment is to be moved. Before you receive this letter all your troubles on this head will be solved, and I hope you will be comfortably settled at Devon. How delighted Tarquin must have been to see Elliot again!
I hope the kitten is all right. I am glad the mare is well. I hope Elliot found her as well as Hughes said she was and was able to enjoy some hunting on her. I like to picture you to myself, and as much as possible with the animals and things I remember.
I would give a great deal to have you all out here for a while, just to see the place and the way we live. You would fancy this was out in the heart of England – it is so very English in so many ways.
I think you will quite wish to stay with your sister and let Elliot go to Aldershot alone until it is decided what the Regiment is going to do.
I was very sorry to hear that your sister is so delicate. I was hopeful she was getting stronger as she had not mentioned her health for some little time. Pray congratulate the Glandaragh people on the birth of their son. I am sure both your brother and his wife have been very pleased to have a boy after so many daughters.
I am glad Elliot has another stripe. Does Mr Coddington come back to the Regiment in the same position that he was in before he left? Does he not lose any stripes by it?
I wrote to both you and Elliot last Thursday and I will now tell you what we have done since then. After I had finished all the mail letters I passed them to General Algar to post for me with his own. When he returned he walked with me as far as the Wguni Williams, where I wanted to call, but he would not come in with me. He is a very shy man and it seemed an effort to him to make a new acquaintance.
I saw at the William's such a handsome book of photographs of their place - of New Zealand. It was for a wedding present. When I go home I must put all the photos I get into a book and I expect we shall find them very interesting. When I came out I found the General waiting for me and we walked back to the hotel together.
Anna was not very well that day. She had I think visited a little too much the night before and she had been painting a good deal at the school for several days and I think the two things knocked her up. A night's rest however soon set her up again. We had to sit in the Coffee Room all that day as they were repainting the room. They have put on a very pretty little paper and it looks very clean and bright now.
The next day, Friday, Anna went back to the school and worked away then the whole day as it was the last day the school was to be open. The General went to Port Lyttleton to take photos, so I was left alone. I went for a walk in the Botanical Gardens and sat and walked there for more than an hour. It was very pleasant and the day was long.
On Saturday morning I went with the General to see the Gardens of the Acclimatisation Society. There was one kangaroo there and one monkey but nothing else except a few birds kept. The whole pleace looked so neglected and badly kept. I believe they have tried to breed salmon in the ponds, but they have failed. They have succeeded however with trout, of which there are a good number here.
We then walked on to the Botanical Gardens which are very well kept and on to the museum. There are some very interesting things in it. We had been there before so we went on to the picture gallery which we had not seen. There is a very poor collection of pictures in it. The 5 Leighton's chosen this year for the colony seemed to me to be very good ones. But I had not much time to look at them as the General did not care much for them.
Anna went that day to the hunt meet with Mrs Nidwell and her daughter. She said she had a very pleasant time, though she does not think the hounds found anything. They hunt the hare when they can find one, which does not seem to be always.
Christchurch
30 April 1888
My dearest Mamie,
I was so delighted to get two letters from you today and one from Elliot – finishing one of yours. I don't understand how it is you have not heard from me. I write at every opportunity to one or other of you. In his last letter Fred says he received a letter from me from King Gengis Sound, and he says he would have sent the letter on to you as I asked him to do but he did not know your address. I know I asked both you and him to exchange some of my letters as it is difficult to tell exactly the same news to each one.
How very tiresome it must be for you not to know when the Regiment is to be moved. Before you receive this letter all your troubles on this head will be solved, and I hope you will be comfortably settled at Devon. How delighted Tarquin must have been to see Elliot again!
I hope the kitten is all right. I am glad the mare is well. I hope Elliot found her as well as Hughes said she was and was able to enjoy some hunting on her. I like to picture you to myself, and as much as possible with the animals and things I remember.
I would give a great deal to have you all out here for a while, just to see the place and the way we live. You would fancy this was out in the heart of England – it is so very English in so many ways.
I think you will quite wish to stay with your sister and let Elliot go to Aldershot alone until it is decided what the Regiment is going to do.
I was very sorry to hear that your sister is so delicate. I was hopeful she was getting stronger as she had not mentioned her health for some little time. Pray congratulate the Glandaragh people on the birth of their son. I am sure both your brother and his wife have been very pleased to have a boy after so many daughters.
I am glad Elliot has another stripe. Does Mr Coddington come back to the Regiment in the same position that he was in before he left? Does he not lose any stripes by it?
I wrote to both you and Elliot last Thursday and I will now tell you what we have done since then. After I had finished all the mail letters I passed them to General Algar to post for me with his own. When he returned he walked with me as far as the Wguni Williams, where I wanted to call, but he would not come in with me. He is a very shy man and it seemed an effort to him to make a new acquaintance.
I saw at the William's such a handsome book of photographs of their place - of New Zealand. It was for a wedding present. When I go home I must put all the photos I get into a book and I expect we shall find them very interesting. When I came out I found the General waiting for me and we walked back to the hotel together.
Anna was not very well that day. She had I think visited a little too much the night before and she had been painting a good deal at the school for several days and I think the two things knocked her up. A night's rest however soon set her up again. We had to sit in the Coffee Room all that day as they were repainting the room. They have put on a very pretty little paper and it looks very clean and bright now.
The next day, Friday, Anna went back to the school and worked away then the whole day as it was the last day the school was to be open. The General went to Port Lyttleton to take photos, so I was left alone. I went for a walk in the Botanical Gardens and sat and walked there for more than an hour. It was very pleasant and the day was long.
On Saturday morning I went with the General to see the Gardens of the Acclimatisation Society. There was one kangaroo there and one monkey but nothing else except a few birds kept. The whole pleace looked so neglected and badly kept. I believe they have tried to breed salmon in the ponds, but they have failed. They have succeeded however with trout, of which there are a good number here.
We then walked on to the Botanical Gardens which are very well kept and on to the museum. There are some very interesting things in it. We had been there before so we went on to the picture gallery which we had not seen. There is a very poor collection of pictures in it. The 5 Leighton's chosen this year for the colony seemed to me to be very good ones. But I had not much time to look at them as the General did not care much for them.
Anna went that day to the hunt meet with Mrs Nidwell and her daughter. She said she had a very pleasant time, though she does not think the hounds found anything. They hunt the hare when they can find one, which does not seem to be always.
Christchurch, New Zealand, 1st May 1888
May 1st
This morning was very fine though cold, but now it has turned to rain. While we were at breakfast, Mrs Hallam came to ask if Anna would go with her to help her to buy a wedding present. Anna was almost done so she went off to get her hat and those two started.
The General said he wanted to go photographing and asked me to go with him which I did. He took a photograph of this hotel with me standing in the verandah. We then went on to the gardens and he tried to take a view of the Hospital, which is rather a picturesque building, but the wind was too high and then something went wrong with his camera so he had to give it up, and we went to our favourite place, the museum.
There is such a large collection of birds there. I should like to have some of them very much. It is curious to see the number of little children who come into the museum. They are quite good and do not touch anything, but they look at them with the greatest interest.
The General has now gone to pay a visit to the Browns though it is pouring with rain and Anna and I are getting on with our letters. But to return to Saturday.
In the afternoon, the General went off to Little River, which is about three hours by train from here. He wanted us to go with him, but I did not think it would at all repay us for the trouble and expenses, so we declined and he had to go alone. Anna and I spent that evening at the Nidwills and Mr ... was there and sang for us. He had a very good voice and sings very well. We have seen very little of that young man lately as he is very busy painting a picture for the Melbourne Exhibition. We are to go and see the picture one day this week in his studio, and I feel rather worried about it as I am afraid it will not be first rate and I shall not know what to say about it.
The Sunday afternoon, Anna and I walked with the Nidwills across the park. We went to call on the McMillan Browns, and we promised the Nidwills to meet them again on the way back. Well the Browns were very kind and wanted us to stop for dinner but we did not want to do so, as it is rather dull there, so we said we thought we were engaged at the Nidwills. This was not exactly the truth but it severd our purpose of getting away from the Browns. We again met the Nidwills and Mrs N asked us to go in and have tea with them and we accepted. I then told her what we had said to the Browns and she was very much amused.
Saturday after lunch the General walked in. He said he had not enjoyed his trip to Little River at all. The day was not very fine and he had to put up in a 'Pot House' where most of the people got drunk, so it was as well we did not go with him. We are invited for tomorrow evening to an At Home with Mrs Nidwill – there is to be dancing and music. It is the first regular evening entertainment that I have been asked to since I have been in Christchurch and for the first time I shall wear my evening dress.
The Friday we are to lunch with Professor and Mrs Cork. We have not been to them before. The McMillan Browns want us to stay with them for a few days before we leave, and I expect we shall have to as they have asked us several times. I do not think they are favourites here. People here say she was the daughter of a ... but she is quite lady-like in her manners and she is very clever. She is now head mistress of the Girls High School here and the girls pass all the public examinations very well.
I think Gerald is a very pretty name and I am glad the baby is so pretty. I do not expect I shall be able to afford any new dresses before I return home, but if I really must get one I think I shall get it at Sydney. It will be cheaper than sending home for it. I wish I had another bonnet from Robin's but I do not think it would be worth while to send one out to me. I expect when we are on our way home we shall both want some decent dresses and then I think I will write and ask you to make some for us at Robin's with a hat and a bonnet for each of us.
But there is time enough for that. We shall be leaving here I expect in almost a fortnight, and then we shall go to Auckland, where we shall have to stop at least a fortnight, and from there on to Sydney. We are going to take a through ticket to Sydney as we find that it is the cheapest option and we can break our journey when we like.
This morning was very fine though cold, but now it has turned to rain. While we were at breakfast, Mrs Hallam came to ask if Anna would go with her to help her to buy a wedding present. Anna was almost done so she went off to get her hat and those two started.
The General said he wanted to go photographing and asked me to go with him which I did. He took a photograph of this hotel with me standing in the verandah. We then went on to the gardens and he tried to take a view of the Hospital, which is rather a picturesque building, but the wind was too high and then something went wrong with his camera so he had to give it up, and we went to our favourite place, the museum.
There is such a large collection of birds there. I should like to have some of them very much. It is curious to see the number of little children who come into the museum. They are quite good and do not touch anything, but they look at them with the greatest interest.
The General has now gone to pay a visit to the Browns though it is pouring with rain and Anna and I are getting on with our letters. But to return to Saturday.
In the afternoon, the General went off to Little River, which is about three hours by train from here. He wanted us to go with him, but I did not think it would at all repay us for the trouble and expenses, so we declined and he had to go alone. Anna and I spent that evening at the Nidwills and Mr ... was there and sang for us. He had a very good voice and sings very well. We have seen very little of that young man lately as he is very busy painting a picture for the Melbourne Exhibition. We are to go and see the picture one day this week in his studio, and I feel rather worried about it as I am afraid it will not be first rate and I shall not know what to say about it.
The Sunday afternoon, Anna and I walked with the Nidwills across the park. We went to call on the McMillan Browns, and we promised the Nidwills to meet them again on the way back. Well the Browns were very kind and wanted us to stop for dinner but we did not want to do so, as it is rather dull there, so we said we thought we were engaged at the Nidwills. This was not exactly the truth but it severd our purpose of getting away from the Browns. We again met the Nidwills and Mrs N asked us to go in and have tea with them and we accepted. I then told her what we had said to the Browns and she was very much amused.
Saturday after lunch the General walked in. He said he had not enjoyed his trip to Little River at all. The day was not very fine and he had to put up in a 'Pot House' where most of the people got drunk, so it was as well we did not go with him. We are invited for tomorrow evening to an At Home with Mrs Nidwill – there is to be dancing and music. It is the first regular evening entertainment that I have been asked to since I have been in Christchurch and for the first time I shall wear my evening dress.
The Friday we are to lunch with Professor and Mrs Cork. We have not been to them before. The McMillan Browns want us to stay with them for a few days before we leave, and I expect we shall have to as they have asked us several times. I do not think they are favourites here. People here say she was the daughter of a ... but she is quite lady-like in her manners and she is very clever. She is now head mistress of the Girls High School here and the girls pass all the public examinations very well.
I think Gerald is a very pretty name and I am glad the baby is so pretty. I do not expect I shall be able to afford any new dresses before I return home, but if I really must get one I think I shall get it at Sydney. It will be cheaper than sending home for it. I wish I had another bonnet from Robin's but I do not think it would be worth while to send one out to me. I expect when we are on our way home we shall both want some decent dresses and then I think I will write and ask you to make some for us at Robin's with a hat and a bonnet for each of us.
But there is time enough for that. We shall be leaving here I expect in almost a fortnight, and then we shall go to Auckland, where we shall have to stop at least a fortnight, and from there on to Sydney. We are going to take a through ticket to Sydney as we find that it is the cheapest option and we can break our journey when we like.
Christchurch, New Zealand, 2nd May 1888
2nd May
Anna is writing to Elliot by this mail, so I will not write to him, but will you tell him with my love that I have asked several people I have met if it was possible for officers in the Army at home to get an appointment out here, but I have been always told 'no'.
There seems to be no army here at all. There are a few volunteers, and I have seen a few mounted infantry riding about, but I think these are volunteers also. The government is too poor to go to much expense for the soldiers and almost everything is left for the people to do for themselves.
There is a retired Colonel of the English Army here who has been trying in vain to get an appointment, but he has been told in answer to all his applications that the Government cannot afford at present to employ any paid people. The country is in a very bad way just now and I do not know how the troubles will end. There is almost manhood suffrage here, so that in fact the people govern.
Their one remedy for all this evil is Protection!
What they want Protection for I do not know. They have no manufacturers to think of, and the only things they export are frozen meat and wool. Everything else they have to import and why they want to put a high duty on them, so as to make the things dreadfully dear for them to buy, is more than I can understand.
If they had started any manufacturers that they wanted to protect against foreign competition I would understand it, but they make nothing in this country except a few woollen goods. This will not be interesting to you.
General Algar has given Anna some rabbit skins of the silver grey rabbit. They are very pretty and will make a nice lining for a cloak for her. It is a great pity we cannot have them made up, but I was told it would cost too much. Anna has gone off to spend the evening at the Nidwills and the General is in the Coffee Room writing letters home for the mail tomorrow so I am alone. I am sending Elliot a paper which I should be glad if he would send on to your uncle John. I have marked a letter that I think will give you all a laugh.
Mail day. No more news. Good bye dear Mamie,
With much love to you both,
love your very loving Mother,
Eliza C Cairns
Anna is writing to Elliot by this mail, so I will not write to him, but will you tell him with my love that I have asked several people I have met if it was possible for officers in the Army at home to get an appointment out here, but I have been always told 'no'.
There seems to be no army here at all. There are a few volunteers, and I have seen a few mounted infantry riding about, but I think these are volunteers also. The government is too poor to go to much expense for the soldiers and almost everything is left for the people to do for themselves.
There is a retired Colonel of the English Army here who has been trying in vain to get an appointment, but he has been told in answer to all his applications that the Government cannot afford at present to employ any paid people. The country is in a very bad way just now and I do not know how the troubles will end. There is almost manhood suffrage here, so that in fact the people govern.
Their one remedy for all this evil is Protection!
What they want Protection for I do not know. They have no manufacturers to think of, and the only things they export are frozen meat and wool. Everything else they have to import and why they want to put a high duty on them, so as to make the things dreadfully dear for them to buy, is more than I can understand.
If they had started any manufacturers that they wanted to protect against foreign competition I would understand it, but they make nothing in this country except a few woollen goods. This will not be interesting to you.
General Algar has given Anna some rabbit skins of the silver grey rabbit. They are very pretty and will make a nice lining for a cloak for her. It is a great pity we cannot have them made up, but I was told it would cost too much. Anna has gone off to spend the evening at the Nidwills and the General is in the Coffee Room writing letters home for the mail tomorrow so I am alone. I am sending Elliot a paper which I should be glad if he would send on to your uncle John. I have marked a letter that I think will give you all a laugh.
Mail day. No more news. Good bye dear Mamie,
With much love to you both,
love your very loving Mother,
Eliza C Cairns
Christchurch, New Zealand, 2nd June 1888
Christchurch, 2nd June 1888
Dearest Mamie,
On Saturday we did all our packing and came off here in the afternoon. I was feeling very miserable with a very bad headache and when we arrived here I had to lie on the sofa all the evening.
We have very good sized airy rooms here and they are funding us very well, but at first I did not think we should be able to stay, as we were afraid they were going to be dirty. However, I spoke to the landlady and she has been much more particular since. We pay 3 guineas a week for the two of us for board and everything and I think it is ridiculously cheap.
What I suffer most from here (and it was much the same at the hotel) is the closet. It is a most primitive arrangement which has to be emptied once a week. It is out of doors in a little wooden shed. You can imagine how horrible this arrangement is, and I cannot believe it is wholesome.
There is no system of drains here and the water supply is from Artisan Wells. The water is good, which is fortunate, as home wines are very dear and native wines are not very good. The beer they make out here is not at all bad. It is light and bitter and I do not dislike it, but I cannot often drink beer.
There are a great number of balls and parties on this week but Anna has not been invited to any of them. Mrs Nidwill, however, is trying to see if she cannot get her an invitation to a fancy dress ball that is being given this day week by a rich bachelor who glories in the name of Poppan! He is spending, we are told, £200 on the dance and most of Anna’s friends are going to it.
Most of the girls here make their own dresses and Anna has helped two of them to design their dresses for the fancy dress ball. I am often amazed at the way she is consulted at times as to how the dresses are made at home and what the fashion is in coats &c.
I am going tomorrow to get Anna some new print and I am going to make her a dress. We are to go to Mrs Nidwill’s on Thursday morning to sew it on her machine. It was very kind of her to ask us.
I wish I had had money enough when I was leaving home to have got myself a really nice silk black dress with two bodies for evening and day wear. It would have been very useful to me. But of course, I had not the money and I did not think the people would have dressed much here.
I had a nice long letter from Fred today, he has work to do but is to get no pay, which I think is rather bad, for he is quite competent to do good work and he ought to get paid for it. However he seems to think it will be all right and he says he will agitate for pay in six months. He has got some nice rooms not far from our flat and he expects to be comfortable in them.
It is getting much more difficult to write you long letters how as we are settling down to quiet every day life and very little of interest happens to us. However, I will not finish this letter tonight and perhaps I shall have some thing new to add tomorrow evening.
Dearest Mamie,
On Saturday we did all our packing and came off here in the afternoon. I was feeling very miserable with a very bad headache and when we arrived here I had to lie on the sofa all the evening.
We have very good sized airy rooms here and they are funding us very well, but at first I did not think we should be able to stay, as we were afraid they were going to be dirty. However, I spoke to the landlady and she has been much more particular since. We pay 3 guineas a week for the two of us for board and everything and I think it is ridiculously cheap.
What I suffer most from here (and it was much the same at the hotel) is the closet. It is a most primitive arrangement which has to be emptied once a week. It is out of doors in a little wooden shed. You can imagine how horrible this arrangement is, and I cannot believe it is wholesome.
There is no system of drains here and the water supply is from Artisan Wells. The water is good, which is fortunate, as home wines are very dear and native wines are not very good. The beer they make out here is not at all bad. It is light and bitter and I do not dislike it, but I cannot often drink beer.
There are a great number of balls and parties on this week but Anna has not been invited to any of them. Mrs Nidwill, however, is trying to see if she cannot get her an invitation to a fancy dress ball that is being given this day week by a rich bachelor who glories in the name of Poppan! He is spending, we are told, £200 on the dance and most of Anna’s friends are going to it.
Most of the girls here make their own dresses and Anna has helped two of them to design their dresses for the fancy dress ball. I am often amazed at the way she is consulted at times as to how the dresses are made at home and what the fashion is in coats &c.
I am going tomorrow to get Anna some new print and I am going to make her a dress. We are to go to Mrs Nidwill’s on Thursday morning to sew it on her machine. It was very kind of her to ask us.
I wish I had had money enough when I was leaving home to have got myself a really nice silk black dress with two bodies for evening and day wear. It would have been very useful to me. But of course, I had not the money and I did not think the people would have dressed much here.
I had a nice long letter from Fred today, he has work to do but is to get no pay, which I think is rather bad, for he is quite competent to do good work and he ought to get paid for it. However he seems to think it will be all right and he says he will agitate for pay in six months. He has got some nice rooms not far from our flat and he expects to be comfortable in them.
It is getting much more difficult to write you long letters how as we are settling down to quiet every day life and very little of interest happens to us. However, I will not finish this letter tonight and perhaps I shall have some thing new to add tomorrow evening.
Christchurch, New Zealand, 3rd June 1888
Christchurch, 3rd June
I am afraid I must again alter my opinion about these lodgings. They give us very bad breakfast and lunch. Yesterday and today they gave us corned beef for lunch without any vegetables. For second course they had a cake and jam on the table. The meat was cut ever so think and laid on a dish. For breakfast they give us ham and eggs and the ham is cut thick and is … flavoured.
I complained to the servant about it and if it is not better tomorrow I shall see about either returning to the hotel or getting into other lodgings. It is very provoking and I wish now I had not moved.
I heard from General Algar this morning. He is travelling about and talked of crossing to Stewart Island, which is the South Island of this group. He expects to be back here by the end of this week.
We had such a hunt for some print for Anna’s dress today. This is the beginning of the winter season here and they are out of prints and all their prettiest things were sold out. Anna at last settled on a blue and white small check, which I expect will look very pretty when made up. In a furniture shop here they have several Liberty’s materials and in such pretty colours.
I am beginning to feel so very uneasy about Hattie. I have not heard from her for weeks and she was very ill when she last wrote. There is a P & O mail in tonight, and I might possibly get a letter from her by it in the morning, but if I do not I shall fear that something has gone wrong with her. She will feel your Aunt Ada’s death very much for she had settled to go and stay at … in order to be near her. I trust I shall hear from her in the morning.
I do not think I have any more news to tell you now, but I will not shut up my envelope till the last moment in case I should remember anything more. Besides, I will tell you if I hear from Hattie.
With very much love to you and Elliot, love dear Mamie,
Your very affectionate Mother,
Eliza C Cairns
4th
The letters must be posted today. I have not heard again from Hattie and I cannot make out what can have happened to her. I feel most uneasy. Nothing of any interest has happened. We have not yet made up our minds whether we shall stay on here or move back to the hotel. I have been trying to cut out Anna’s dress most of this morning and it is not done yet. It is so difficult to cut from a made up dress.
With love to you both,
Love from,
L.C.C.
I am afraid I must again alter my opinion about these lodgings. They give us very bad breakfast and lunch. Yesterday and today they gave us corned beef for lunch without any vegetables. For second course they had a cake and jam on the table. The meat was cut ever so think and laid on a dish. For breakfast they give us ham and eggs and the ham is cut thick and is … flavoured.
I complained to the servant about it and if it is not better tomorrow I shall see about either returning to the hotel or getting into other lodgings. It is very provoking and I wish now I had not moved.
I heard from General Algar this morning. He is travelling about and talked of crossing to Stewart Island, which is the South Island of this group. He expects to be back here by the end of this week.
We had such a hunt for some print for Anna’s dress today. This is the beginning of the winter season here and they are out of prints and all their prettiest things were sold out. Anna at last settled on a blue and white small check, which I expect will look very pretty when made up. In a furniture shop here they have several Liberty’s materials and in such pretty colours.
I am beginning to feel so very uneasy about Hattie. I have not heard from her for weeks and she was very ill when she last wrote. There is a P & O mail in tonight, and I might possibly get a letter from her by it in the morning, but if I do not I shall fear that something has gone wrong with her. She will feel your Aunt Ada’s death very much for she had settled to go and stay at … in order to be near her. I trust I shall hear from her in the morning.
I do not think I have any more news to tell you now, but I will not shut up my envelope till the last moment in case I should remember anything more. Besides, I will tell you if I hear from Hattie.
With very much love to you and Elliot, love dear Mamie,
Your very affectionate Mother,
Eliza C Cairns
4th
The letters must be posted today. I have not heard again from Hattie and I cannot make out what can have happened to her. I feel most uneasy. Nothing of any interest has happened. We have not yet made up our minds whether we shall stay on here or move back to the hotel. I have been trying to cut out Anna’s dress most of this morning and it is not done yet. It is so difficult to cut from a made up dress.
With love to you both,
Love from,
L.C.C.
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