The A to Z Challenge: W is for Washing
Wash day ‘Don’t go getting any ideas,’ Lizzie said. ‘I’m too tired. It’s Monday, remember? The wife’s night off.’ —from Mud and Gold. She had earned her good night’s sleep. […]
Mud and Gold
The A to Z Challenge: T is for Tarawera
Tarawera is a volcano near the North Island town of Rotorua. After being quiescent for centuries, it erupted in June of 1886, killing about 150 people (the exact death toll […]
The Bush-farmer’s Scourge
There’s a section in Mud and Gold when Frank faces near-disaster after several of his cows get into a patch of poisonous plants: One of his cows lay on the […]
Tarawera Eruption – 125th Anniversary
On 10 June 1886 Mount Tarawera erupted, killing over 100 people. Ash darkened the sky, and earthquakes were felt over a wide area. More on Tarawera can be found here. […]
The A & P Show
The Agricultural and Pastoral Show has been an annual event in many parts of New Zealand for over 150 years. In some places they’re now quite heavily commercialised, and marketed […]
The Winton Baby-Farmer
On 12 August 1895 Minnie Dean was hanged; the only woman ever executed in New Zealand. Dean was a “baby-farmer”, a role that grew out of Victorian attitudes to illegitimacy. […]
In good company
I was checking the Barnes & Noble e-book listings for historical fiction today, sorted by number of sales, and was pleasantly surprised to find Sentence of Marriage at Number 34 […]
This week in New Zealand history: first shipment of frozen export produce
Frozen meat had been successfully exported from Australia in 1879, and a few years later New Zealand had its own first shipment. On the 15th of February 1882, the Dunedin […]
New Year’s Day
The New Year arrives early in New Zealand, thanks to our position close to the Date Line. So it’s already eleven hours old as I write this. 2010 has got […]
This week in New Zealand history: Our First A & P Show
On 14 December 1843, an Agricultural and Pastoral Show was held in Auckland, the first in New Zealand. The idea of such shows was at first slow to spread, but […]