Born to New Zealand : a biography of Jane Maria Atkinson

'i Love Taranaki More Every Day... I Was Born To Live Here, Certainly It Fits Me Well, Tho' I Feel Doubtful As To Any Woman Without My Peculiar Crotchets Being Happy Here...my Life Is An Ugly Little Stock Of A Rosebush With Plenty Of Prickles But...in Good Soil It Will Give Me A Few Sweet Smelling Blossoms For Years.' So Wrote Maria Richmond In 1854, Newly Arrived In Taranaki, On The Eve Of Her Marriage To Arthur Atkinson. Maria Bore Children, Cared For Relatives And Friends, And Established A Home In New Zealand. She Also Read Constantly, Discussed Politics, Became Bored With, Sometimes Despaired Of, A Woman's Lot, But Always Wrote With Vivacity And Intelligence, As Did Other Members Of Her Remarkable Family. From This Rich Resource Frances Porter Has Written A Biography That Offers A Woman's View Of Life In Colonial New Zealand. It Is A Story Both Of Daily, Intimate Happenings And Of The Broader Sweep Of History. Many Of Maria's Male Kinfolk Entered Politics And Were Actively Engaged In The Taranaki Wars. Maria Was An Effective Non-combatant In Both Spheres. Nothing That Touched Her Life Escaped Her Vigorous Commentary. Frances Porter. Published With The Assistance Of The Alexander Turnbull Library Endowment Trust. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [362]-398) And Index. Frontmatter The mob (page vii) Chapter One A Modest Competence (page 1) Chapter Two 'Uncertainties & scheming' (page 11) Chapter Three 'Meetings and partings' (page 29) Chapter Four Settling In (page 51) Chapter Five 'Bird's Nest' at Merton (page 74) Chapter Six The Hurworth Community (page 94) Chapter Seven Dispersal (page 126) Chapter Eight Auckland Interlude (page 143) Chapter Nine 'Otago & the law or Taranaki & joy' (page 170) Chapter Ten 'We must go on bravely' (page 199) Chapter Eleven 'Tied by the leg' (page 236) Chapter Twelve Bleak House to Fairfield (page 268) Chapter Thirteen European Cultivation (page 294) Chapter Fourteen 'Young folks & sunshine' (page 325) Sources (page 362) Notes (page 367) Index (page 399)