Written by the adventurous and widely travelled Lady Mary Anne Barker (1831 1911), this 1870 publication records 'the expeditions, adventures, and emergencies diversifying the daily life of the wife of a New Zealand sheep farmer'. Born in Jamaica and educated in England and France, Barker married her second husband in 1865 and spent the next three years living on his sheep station on the South Island. This book is based on letters written to Barker's younger sister, beginning with an account of her two-month voyage to Melbourne and her onward journey via Nelson and Wellington to Christchurch....

First published in 1877, this book is one of several colonial memoirs by the successful writer and journalist Lady Mary Anne Barker (1831 1911). Born in Jamaica and educated in England and France, Lady Barker spent periods living in New Zealand, South Africa, Mauritius, Trinidad, and Western Australia following the career and colonial service appointments of her second husband, Frederick Broome. She arrived in Natal in 1875 and lived there for three years while Broome was Colonial Secretary. This book, presented in the form of letters, vividly describes the family's experiences and domestic...