Christchurch Settlement circa 1867
Mum and Dad were on the Charlotte Jane. It was one of four ships that came out bringing the settlers who came to Christchurch. The others were the Randolph, the Cressy and the Sir George Seymour. There were 773 people on those first four ships.
They were among the richer colonists so they had their own cabin. So for Mum, who was pregnant with me, it was a hard journey. Down in steerage, people shared one large cabin. There were two sorts of immigrants, those in a cabin on the poop deck and those in steerage. Because my father was wealthy, he was in a cabin. And lots of people brought pianos on the journey. But those in steerage were only able to bring a couple of trunks. And we never mixed with those children.
I have been on an emigrant ship in 1857 so I know it is fun experience to be on the ship, even though there are lots of rules as well. I enjoyed meeting other children on the boat. We used to play a lot and we loved going up on deck. But there wasn’t much food, and when we were naughty we got into big trouble. Also some people got very sick and could hardly cope with the journey. Some little children died...
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