Transcript of a letter sent by Henry Garmston Bottle
while en route to New Zealand.
Supplied by Mrs. Joan Bottle, Winton, New Zealand.
Himalae
February 10th 1879
My dear Papa,
There is a vessel in sight this morning
and if she comes near the Captain will stop her, so I will get a
few lines ready. We are now close to the line about a days run,
and the heat is something fearful. I am quite well and have been
all the time and not sea sick once. We have got over the miles
this last day or two, but now we are scarcely going at all. I
shall be glad when we get there, for it is dry work, not much to
do and especially this weather. How are you all getting on at
home I often think about you and I hope there will be plenty of
letters for me when I get there. They expect to get there in 9 or
10 more weeks if we don't stop here too long.
We had a heavy gale yesterday morning it came on all at once and
the wind blew and it rained as I never saw it before. It came
down in streams like pailfuls we all took our shoes and stockings
off rolled our trousers up put mackintoshes on, no hat and went on
deck to catch water, we caught a good lot, the gale lasted an
hour.
I suppose you got my last letter I think I sent it to Fred on the
Friday after we left when the pilot left us. I shall post another
letter to Nellie with my diary, so you are all sure to get one of
them. I must give over now as there are lots of them want to
write and we have only got two or three pens between us.
Remember me to all friends and
Love to all
Believe me
Your affectionate son
Harry.
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Transcript of a letter sent by Henry Garmston Bottle
from New Zealand.
Supplied by Mrs. Joan Bottle, Winton, New Zealand.
Waimate
April 24th 1879
My dear Papa,
I know you will all be pleased to hear
of my safe arrival. There is a mail off tomorrow so I must let you
know how I am getting on. I had a letter from Mr. Peach waiting
for me and asking me to go down to him at Waimate. So I wrote
off to him to say I would be there in a day or so. I stayed at
Christchurch untill Wednesday morning then came down to Timaru,
staying there one night and now I am writing this in Mr. Peach's
little room. It is a nice place and I think he is going to see if
he can't get me some work. I like New Zealand very much indeed.
It is a splendid country the weather is quite hot in the day time
but cold at night. The sunshine is beautiful and everything looks
like summer in England.
I had your letters all right and one from Marianne as well, but as
for Francis I have no news from him and don't know where he is.
We had a quicker passage than we expected and a very good one for
weather, but the food was very bad indeed and if I had not had
some of my own I don't know what I should have done, but I managed
to make it last out well. My hand is almost as well as the other,
but has a very bad scar but that won't matter. Work is very dull
indeed here now, at Christchurch there is no work to be had at
all, unless potato digging at about 1s a sack and you grub, and
that will not get you a fortune, but I don't mean to leave this
country untill I have got it if it takes untill I get an old man.
Mr. and Mrs. Peach wish to be remembered to you and he said you
would find farming out here better than at home. He keeps a few
horses and carts timber about for other people. He only has two
of his children at home, the others are out somewhere at school.
Mrs. Sam Islip lives at a sheep station I am going to see her
tomorrow and another Islip lives at a sheep station 80 miles from
here.
I expect you saw the arrival of the ship a day or two after we got
in. Mr. Peach has sent you a newspaper with all about it in. I
expect you will get it with this letter. We met a ship on the
voyage homeward bound and I sent two letters home to you and my
diary up to then. I sent the other half with this. I have got my
luggage safe, but I had a lot of trouble with it There was a ship
came in the same day that we did with 700 immigrants from Kent, so
they are thinning you a bit.
I have not much news to tell you at this time or much time to
write it in. Mr. Peach is going to take me up in the bush with him
for a walk. I shall write to some of you a long letter next mail
and shall have some more to tell you, but I hardly know what I am
about yet, being so long on the water. The first few days my legs
ached so bad that I could scarcely get about, but today I feel as
well as ever I did in my life and this country will suit me well.
I shall hope to have some long letters from you by the next mail
with more news about Pertenhall. I often think about you all and
used to wish sometimes on board that I was at home, but now I am
here safe I know I am alright and shall get on. Remember me to
all friends,
Love to all,
your affectionate son
Harry.
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Transcript of a letter sent by Henry Garmston Bottle
from New Zealand.
Supplied by Mrs. Joan Bottle, Winton, New Zealand.
Matatuna,
June 18th 1879
My dear Papa,
I have just got your letter that you sent
the end of April, the mail before that I got yours and Nellies and
one from Marianne and the one that Fred wrote that ought to have
come by the Suez mail, but he did not put via Suez on it so it did
not come until the Frisco mail. I wrote to Marianne by the Suez
mail last Sunday fortnight so I expect she has got it.
I have little better news to tell you this time, I have let myself
to Mr. Lees for 6 months (to the end of October) for #30. It
seems small wages after what you told me Francis is getting, but
they are such nice people and times are bad this winter so I
expect I must be satisfied. Another of his men have left him, he
has gone back home he was a Scotsman, so I asked Mr. Lees if he
wanted another man, because I had a letter from one of the fellows
that sailed with me, he was the one I liked the best on board,
saying he would like to get work near me. So Mr. Lees said that I
might write to him so I did and he has come and he takes my place
and I take the mans that has left. He is a nice fellow his name
is Albert Gray from some village near Manchester.
I have a little more work to do now. I have three horses and a
double plough it is easy work, but I have to look after them on
Sunday and ride round to see that the beasts are alright but I get
done about 10 o'clock and there is no church here in the morning,
so it is not so bad for me and now I must tell you about the
teetotalors. They are all teetotalors up here and I have joined
them, nearly all the young fellows are tots as they say it is no
use if they are not, we meet every Thursday evening in the school
room and have singing and we are going to have a concert next week
and I am going to sing the Miller Of The Dee. I did not tell you
in my last letter for I had not joined then, but I have not tasted
a drop of anything since I have landed and I don't mean to that's
another thing.
I shall keep the letter from Mr. Baker it may come in handy if I
go to Christchurch anytime. I have heard nothing from Francis, I
wrote to the Post Office Wellington, but have not had a reply yet.
You were a long time getting my letters I sent on board, the
vessel was going to Antwerp it must have had a bad voyage or you
would have had them sooner, and I wonder you had not seen the
arrival of the ship in the newspaper before you sent your letter
for you wrote on the 31st and we landed on the 17th April, but you
saw it soon after I expect.
We have had winter here the last week, there was ice two or three
mornings but it melts in the sun very soon. The tops of the large
hills or mountains have been covered with snow sometimes but
yesterday morning there was snow a good way down, they say they
get quite covered sometimes, they are about 20 miles from here. I
made a mistake not bringing vests with me for they are wanted here
as bad as at home the weather is so changeable sometimes the sun
will be shining hot and all at once it will become cloudy and a
cold wind begins blowing. I bought two flannel vests the other
day, but I have to give 16s for the two, I call that rather dear.
I don't know what they cost at home, now I must conclude as I am
going to write to Eddie and Francis and Ann Peppet. Give my love
to Aunt Dorman and tell her I will write to her soon
Love to all.
Believe me,
your affectionate son
Harry.
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Transcript of a letter sent by Henry Garmston Bottle
from New Zealand.
Supplied by Mrs. Joan Bottle, Winton, New Zealand.
Matatuna
August 12th 1879
My dear Papa,
Another mail is going out tomorrow, so I
expect I must try and send you a few lines, though I am afraid I
have not much to tell you. Mr. Peach forwarded yours and Nellies
letter to me last week. I could not make out how it came till I
opened it.
We are getting on about the same out here, the weather has been
splendid for the last month, just like summer at home and this is
the first month of spring so I hope it will keep fine for a time.
I see by the papers that the English harvest is not so good as was
expected but I hope it will not be so bad as it has been for the
last few years. I expect you are thinking about soon beginning to
cut some of the corn. It seems so funny to think of you busy with
the harvest, while we are just getting ready for seed time there
is not much winter seeding done here, it is nearly all put in the
spring. Mr. Lees is going to put 30 acre of spring wheat in next
week if the weather keeps fine then it will be time to put in
oats, potatoes, marigolds, carrots and chicory for that is what he
is going to grow this year, I never saw chicory growing until I
came here, it is white stuff and something like a carrot but grows
deeper in the ground and is a good deal of trouble getting up. He
has just sold his potatoes at #5.10 a ton so he did well by them.
Mr. Peach has been trying to get a situation as manager of a farm
about two miles from here belonging to a Mr. N. Inlove a very
large farmer he has lots of farms and altogether he owns 600,000
acres. Mr. Lees told me this morning that he heard Mr. Peach had
got it, but he did not know if it was true or not. I hope he has
for it will be nice to have them near us. My time will be up in
October I don't know whether I shall stay here or not, times are
still very bad and lots of men out of work but I expect they will
get better as the summer comes on.
It is now four months since I landed the times seems to go very
quickly, but I am well and happy I think I feel better now than
ever I did in my life I am sure I am stronger than ever I have
been before and I believe it is not taking drink, but I never
think of it now I think that I have done without it so long I can
manage to do without it altogether and I don't think I will taste
another drop as long as I am out here, if ever I do at all.
We often talk old times over me and Albert for he is here still
and I think we shall stick together for a time at least. The
hills are all covered with snow, but it is not so deep as it was.
Another Islip is coming down here soon, when he can get away so I
may perhaps see him, I went to town the other evening and had
supper with Mrs. Islip she likes to hear of the Pertenhall folks
and asked me to call and see her any time I was in town she asks
to be remembered to you and now I must conclude for I am going to
write a sheet to Ma.
Love to all,
believe me,
your affectionate son
Harry.
P.S. I have sent you a paper and I hope you will send me some.
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Transcript of a letter sent by Henry Garmston Bottle
from New Zealand.
Supplied by Mrs. Joan Bottle, Winton, New Zealand.
Oamaru
September 12th 1884
My Dear Fred,
I think I have not written to you for
some time, so will have a try now. I expect you are pretty busy
just now, but I think you said you had not much harvest this year.
I expect you have got it over by this time. I am still working on
the railway, but it is not much of a job and I wish I could get a
better one, but it is better than nothing so I must be satisfied
until something better turns up. I am afraid New Zealand has seen
its best days but if prices would get up I dare say we should have
a little better times than we have had for the last few years.
The only thing that seems to be going ahead here now is the frozen
meat trade we have got quite a grand harbour at Oamaru now and can
let any of the big steamers come in without danger. We have got a
large one in loading now and she is going to take 25,000 sheep
home to London. I have sent you a paper with an account of her in
it so you will see all about it.
You say you begin to feel quite old with two nephews well now you
have got three, so I expect you will feel a bit older still now.
The farmers are busy planting potatoes now there is a good many
putting them in this year they have risen to #3 a ton now so those
that kept the will be the best off. We have had some colder
weather for the last fortnight than we have had all winter, one
morning when I looked out the ground was covered with snow. That
is the second time I have seen it snow any quantity since I came,
but it all melted away in an hour or two. We can see snow on the
ranges all the year round, there is a heavy covering on them now
and I expect the next heavy rain we have will be quite a flood for
it melts the snow and the water comes down from the hills into the
rivers and can overflow them. It is a long time now since we had
a heavy rain.
I thought I should have time to write to Nellie this time but find
out that I have not for it is pretty late and I have to get up
early in the morning so will write again.
Love to all
Believe me
Your affectionate brother
Harry.
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