Book as companion in the lives of colonial New Zealand women : household manuals and domestic medical books

Abstract

'Whether and whither" to emigrate to the colonies of the British Empire were decisions faced by many during the waves of emigration from Britain in the nineteenth century. For the majority, the decision to uproot and go to a far, unknown land was based upon second hand reports rather than first hand experience with the country itself. Those anticipating emigration acquired information upon which to base their decisions from various places: reports produced by government officials, propaganda from similar sources, media coverage, letters from friends, family, or friends of friends, and word of mouth. Another source was the emigrant manual which emerged, as the name suggests, to meet the demands of emigrants for such information, and to send the settler off prepared for life in a land many had never laid eyes on. All kind of information was sought and provided, from details of climate and farming conditions, to descriptions of the "natives", local society, living conditions, and advise on what the emigrant should take with them. In a letter to her grandmother before leaving for New Zealand, Sarah Greenwood writes that 'the chief part of the money [sent by her grandmother] Danforth [her husband] expended in books giving us full information concerning the colony of New Zealand'.