KEY POINTS:
This book is about 11 New Zealand pioneers from the 19th or early 20th century who endured ordeals at sea, by fire, in floods and earthquakes and ordeals from blindness to bigotry, as they struggled to establish themselves in a raw new land.
The difference is that all 11 were women. In this accessible survey of the well-known and the unknown, historian Megan Hutching has brought more of our voices to our attention.
Via published works, private journals, letters and interviews, she deftly shows us the drama and drabness of her women's lives. She places them in historical context, outlines their social and personal backgrounds, first experiences of New Zealand, vicissitudes and victories.
The 11 are arranged chronologically, from Eliza White, new bride of a Wesleyan missionary, arriving at the Bay of Islands in 1830, to Jerolima (Jurka) Erceg, who came from Dalmatia to join her husband on the Northland goldfields in 1907. One chapter groups four Danish women, who were among the first Scandinavian settlers of Hawkes Bay. Most were immigrants. A few didn't stay long. Life was stern to all of them: children sickened and died, or fell from horses; fires destroyed hard-won homes; men drank to distraction and destruction; the air stank of burned bush or rendered whale blubber.
Hutching summarises the events that motivated or marked them: the 1855 Wellington earthquake; the sugar bag trousers and flour bag sheets; the struggle for women's suffrage and education in which Amey Daldy fought so vigorously: "Let not the babies, the wash-tub, or even dinners prevent women from going to the polls." They emerge convincingly as individuals. We get to hear their voices, even when they jar: "savages ... uncivilised ... inhuman natives". There are lots of telling details.
After arriving here, Jurka Erceg never takes her good clothes out of her trunk. Juliette Daniell, born into Wellington's mid-19th century smart set, goes to dances where a regimental dance band plays. Catherine Ralfe throws bucketfuls of water on the wooden piles of her house during a Taranaki bush fire. Lady Barker arrives with her tall, active, 11-years-younger second husband. Photographs, faded but fascinating, include a possible silhouette portrait of Betty Guard, the famous comb that saved her life, burned or bush-crammed land, high collars and lace caps.
Some chapters end in a fairly perfunctory way; some episodes merit more space and drama. But Megan Hutching writes clearly, unpretentiously, and with a respect for her subjects that quickens her narratives. In a decade when "reality" is usually followed by "TV", it is nice to be reminded what the first word really means.
Over the Wide and Trackless Sea
By Megan Hutching (Harper Collins $39.99)
* David Hill is a Taranaki writer.
