ruthyroo
21st February 2005, 08:43 AM
A bit of light relief and some salient lessons on emigrating to NZ - there is nothing new under the sun!! Douglas Mary McKain was an ancestor of my husband, she sailed from the UK to Wellington in 1841 in search of a new life. These are excerpts from some of the letters she wrote home to her family and it is uncanny the extent to which they reflect many of the experiences posted on these boards...
Weather / Housing
"The fine weather continued for a few days and then it began to blow and rain, and the rain came pouring down through the roofs of the Depot houses until everything was wet and miserable. And what makes it more wretched, there are no fireplaces in the houses. We make fires out of doors to cook by."
So nothing new in terrible weather, and houses that are not built to withstand the conditions!
High Cost of Living
“Things are very dear here. Skim milk 8d per quart. They do not sell the new milk- they make butter from the cream which they sell at 5/- per lb. Salt butter is 2/3 per lb, and 9d the two pound loaf. Soap is 7d and soda 8d per lb."
Our experience exactly - things are expensive out here!
Land / Houses
"The cabin passengers are very dissatisfied with their situation as their sections of land lay a great way from the town. Some of them are selling their land for a third of what they paid for it..."
Sounds like cut throat estate agents have been around in NZ for a long time, honing their skills in fleecing unwary immigrants with GBP in their pockets... and also a lesson in not buying either land or houses unseen i.e. until you've had a chance to look around the place you are buying!
Moving on to OZ
"...and some are going off to Sydney."
Have to confess that if Oz was as easy to get into, we too would probably be moving on to Sydney by now - as many migrants have done in the past, using NZ as a back door to Oz.
Leaving behind Family
"Your brothers never regret having come out here. Frederick and Isaac are delighted, John and James seem very happy but Robina and myself sigh after England. At least, I sigh for the loved ones I left there. God bless you my dear ones. Pray for the exiles in New Zealand.-"
And as always, some settle and some don't, but we all miss our families. This was in the days pre email / telephone / webcam / digital cameras etc - when it took four months to send a letter...
It's rather comforting to me to know that we are doing nothing new in migrating to NZ for a 'better' life, that we are just another link in a tradition of migration that stretches many years back into history. What we are doing is no different to Douglas Mary when she headed off into the unknown - and I firmly believe that despite all the research / sources of info that we now have, we're taking as much of a chance as she was, heading off on that ship. You'll be glad to know that she lived to a ripe old age, became one of the first settlers to land at Ahuriri / Napier, and worked as a midwife.
Bon voyage! :nice1
Weather / Housing
"The fine weather continued for a few days and then it began to blow and rain, and the rain came pouring down through the roofs of the Depot houses until everything was wet and miserable. And what makes it more wretched, there are no fireplaces in the houses. We make fires out of doors to cook by."
So nothing new in terrible weather, and houses that are not built to withstand the conditions!
High Cost of Living
“Things are very dear here. Skim milk 8d per quart. They do not sell the new milk- they make butter from the cream which they sell at 5/- per lb. Salt butter is 2/3 per lb, and 9d the two pound loaf. Soap is 7d and soda 8d per lb."
Our experience exactly - things are expensive out here!
Land / Houses
"The cabin passengers are very dissatisfied with their situation as their sections of land lay a great way from the town. Some of them are selling their land for a third of what they paid for it..."
Sounds like cut throat estate agents have been around in NZ for a long time, honing their skills in fleecing unwary immigrants with GBP in their pockets... and also a lesson in not buying either land or houses unseen i.e. until you've had a chance to look around the place you are buying!
Moving on to OZ
"...and some are going off to Sydney."
Have to confess that if Oz was as easy to get into, we too would probably be moving on to Sydney by now - as many migrants have done in the past, using NZ as a back door to Oz.
Leaving behind Family
"Your brothers never regret having come out here. Frederick and Isaac are delighted, John and James seem very happy but Robina and myself sigh after England. At least, I sigh for the loved ones I left there. God bless you my dear ones. Pray for the exiles in New Zealand.-"
And as always, some settle and some don't, but we all miss our families. This was in the days pre email / telephone / webcam / digital cameras etc - when it took four months to send a letter...
It's rather comforting to me to know that we are doing nothing new in migrating to NZ for a 'better' life, that we are just another link in a tradition of migration that stretches many years back into history. What we are doing is no different to Douglas Mary when she headed off into the unknown - and I firmly believe that despite all the research / sources of info that we now have, we're taking as much of a chance as she was, heading off on that ship. You'll be glad to know that she lived to a ripe old age, became one of the first settlers to land at Ahuriri / Napier, and worked as a midwife.
Bon voyage! :nice1