Diary, Private A F Pickard
Maker
Pickard, Arthur Frederick
Production date
1860-1861
Object detail
Brief Description
Pages from a journal written by Arthur Frederick Pickard. Entries begin with Pickard's departure from England aboard the Norwood on 21 November 1860 and his arrival in Auckland on 4 March 1861. He was a private in the English armed forces and was sent to New Zealand for the Māori wars. His journal details some of those experiences.
Some of the contents include: descriptions of Māori men and women; the use of horses and bullocks in the armed forces; arrangements for caring for the horses; his thoughts on the successes and failures of the battles; the story of a Māori man having his tooth pulled one day and wearing it as decoration the next; going to a ball; keeping wood fires for warmth; One Tree Hill; bad rations; doing drill and then going hunting or fishing; problems with mice and other vermin; assorted arms and forces - infantry and artillery; a story from a missionary in Fiji about the Fijian cannibals wanting to eat the missionary and his wife; needing summer clothing and trying to get it from England; the cost of alcohol; theatre performances the troops put on for the soldier's widows and orphans; the leaving of Governors Grey and Browne; the start of the Bank of New Zealand; the New Zealand gold rush; the speed of meeting ladies and getting married in New Zealand versus England; lack of supplies to make clothing; Christmas dinner in 1861; trying to cold and weather proof their huts; plants that do and do not grow (cabbage trees versus dandelions); trying to make friends with non-army European men; battling against the Waikato Māori; descriptions of battle; taking Māori as prisoners; wounded army men; being surrounded by wounded, dying and dead men; pā fortifications and defences; greenstone/pounamu.
Some of the contents include: descriptions of Māori men and women; the use of horses and bullocks in the armed forces; arrangements for caring for the horses; his thoughts on the successes and failures of the battles; the story of a Māori man having his tooth pulled one day and wearing it as decoration the next; going to a ball; keeping wood fires for warmth; One Tree Hill; bad rations; doing drill and then going hunting or fishing; problems with mice and other vermin; assorted arms and forces - infantry and artillery; a story from a missionary in Fiji about the Fijian cannibals wanting to eat the missionary and his wife; needing summer clothing and trying to get it from England; the cost of alcohol; theatre performances the troops put on for the soldier's widows and orphans; the leaving of Governors Grey and Browne; the start of the Bank of New Zealand; the New Zealand gold rush; the speed of meeting ladies and getting married in New Zealand versus England; lack of supplies to make clothing; Christmas dinner in 1861; trying to cold and weather proof their huts; plants that do and do not grow (cabbage trees versus dandelions); trying to make friends with non-army European men; battling against the Waikato Māori; descriptions of battle; taking Māori as prisoners; wounded army men; being surrounded by wounded, dying and dead men; pā fortifications and defences; greenstone/pounamu.
Production date
1860-1861
Production place
Production period
Production technique
Media/Materials description
Ink on paper.
Media/Materials
Measurements
Height x Width: 256 x 200mm
Signature/Inscription
H.B. Art Gallery & Museum, Stamp, Stamp
Classification terms
Subject person
Subject period
Subject date
1860-1863
Credit line
estate of Mr Cecil Douglas Cornford
Other number(s)
m63/33 a) (i), 5384, 76173
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Place made
Subject category
Pā and marae
Māori
Archive classification
New Zealand Wars
Military
War
Armed Forces
Hunting
Entertainment and recreation
Fishing and fisheries
Industry
Food
Banking and Finance
Business and trade
Mines and mining
Social activities
Community and people
Social attitudes
Marriage
Health and medical care
Public comments
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