[NEW ZEALAND] Letter to an early Hutt River settler, Dr. Relph, from his sister in England, 1842

A$750 · Offered by Douglas Stewart Fine Books

Entire letter, single sheet folding to form [4] sides, quarto, neatly written manuscript in ink on 3 sides (cross written on the last page), headed Enford, near Chippenham, July 10th 1842 , addressed to My dear Brother ; signed at the foot Your only affectionate and sincerely attached Sister, Harriet Eleanor Silcock ; outer side with address panel, to Mr. H.B. Relph, Surgeon c., Petoni, nr. Wellington, Port Nicholson, New Zealand , with PAID 15 JY 1842 in red, CHIPPENHAM JY 15 1842 in black, SHIP LETTER / LONDON / JULY 16 1842 in red, and WELLINGTON / NEW ZEALAND FE 1 1843 in black; remnants of red wax seal with tiny perforation; the letter is complete and in fine condition. Dr. H.B. (Humphry) Relph, a native of Enford in Wiltshire, arrived at Port Nicholson on 14 November 1840 as a cabin passenger on the Martha Ridgeway. This vessel was only the twelfth emigrant ship to reach Port Nicholson, and it brought out the news that the name of the new settlement was to be changed from Britannia to Wellington. Relph settled at Petoni in the Hutt Valley, and is mentioned in Charles Heaphy s Narrative of a Residence in Various Parts of New Zealand (London, 1842, p.75) as one of the gentlemen [who] were engaged in clearing land and cultivating in the Valley of the Hutt . An advertisement for his services as Surgeon accoucheur (obstetric surgeon) at Petoni was placed in the New Zealand Gazette and Wellington Spectator on 6 March 1841; in the 22 December 1841 edition of the same newspaper

• Binding: Hardcover

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