Richard Haydon: Shipboard Diary to New Zealand, 1883 - #19

Landing Emigrants at Lyttelton, Illustrated Australian News 1870s

20 October

Still very calm ship sailing very slow the white hills still in sight.

21 October

We arrived off port Lyttelton about 1 Oclock this morning where we had to lay too until daylight when we signaled for a pilot to come on board then we droped the Anchors and waited for the tug to take us up to Lyttleton where we arrived about 12 Oclock. - R. A. Haydon

Richard Haydon: Shipboard Diary to New Zealand, 1883 - #18

Entrance to Port Chalmers, circa 1905-1910.

19 October

I happened to be on deck this morning about 2 Oclock I could just see the coast of New Zealand and the red light of the light-house off Port Chalmers at 4 Oclock it was a beautiful sight, on one side of the ship was a wide espance [sic] of red sky on the other was New Zealand with her high hills covered with snow.

at about 6 Oclock the ships colours were put up to warn them of our approach this morning was very warm we were sailing about 9 miles an hour until 10 Oclock when the wind fell this afternoon is a little cooler we are almost at a standstill the sea very calm the Anchors are ready for droping [sic] we have got about 112 miles more to go port Littleton.

Richard Haydon: Shipboard Diary to New Zealand, 1883 - #17

The Snares, Charles N Worsley, 1902 water colour.

16 October

Very showery today changable winds again this morning sailors doing very little more than shifting the sails the ship is sailing about 5 miles an hour the wind has been blowing from the South-West since 12 Oclock the woman in the Hospital is much better today it is a beautiful evening this moon is at its full and the sea very calm like a mill pond.

17 October

Very fine day nice breeze from the North-West ship sailing about 8 miles an hour we got at our boxes today for the last time before going ashore a large number of birds fling [sic] around us again to day geting [sic] near the Snares.

18 October

Very cold wind had several hail storms to-day we passed the Snares this morning about 9 Oclock it is 4 or 5 rocks standing up in the sea about 40 feet -- ship sailing about 10 miles an hour she is rolling a great deal to-day sailors are geting [sic] the Anchors out we passed Stewart Island this afternoon.

Richard Haydon: Shipboard Diary to New Zealand, 1883 - #16

13 October

Fine day strong breeze sailing about 11 miles an hour we are all busy cleaning up to day the crew is very busy cleaning up the paint on the sides of the ship and otherwise getting ready for port.

14 October

Sunday. Fine day rather cold wind ship rolling a little sailing about 10 miles an hour off the southern coast of Tasmania.

15 October

Rather dull slight showers this morning wind shifting about this afternoon from the North-West to South-West ship sailing about 7 miles an hour one of the married women was taken to the Hospital this morning suffering from Inflamation [sic]. one of the sailors is sick from fever and ague.

Heritage Battle Across the Pond - Melbourne Flinders St Station Ballroom

According to last week's Sunday Herald Sun, Melbourne's Mayor Robert Doyle "says it's small, difficult to get to and a health and safety nightmare."

We are not sure if he's talking about the City's Flinders St station ballroom that citizens are calling to be restored as a heritage building -- or his brain or other place...

The Herald Sun's article is here and Our Great Southern Land blog's restrained, by Aussie standards, opinion piece is here.

We're always interested here at The New Zealand Journal in the occasional goings-on a bit further west of God's Own.

Richard Haydon: Shipboard Diary to New Zealand, 1883 - #15

9 October

fine day ship sailing very steady she is sailing about 10 miles an hour one of the young men that was ill is much better today the other became worse this morning and was put in the Hospital but the poor fellow died this afternoon about 1/2 past 4 Oclock his name is F Judson he died of inflammation on the lungs he about 18 years old it cast a gloom over the whole ship.

10 October

Very fine morning the poor fellow that died yesterday was buried this morning (about 8 Oclock) (the Burial Service was read by the Captain) he was laid out on a plank with the Union Jack over him he has a brother on board the ship is still very steady the wind is on her quarter she is sailing about 11 miles an hour.

Richard Haydon: Shipboard Diary to New Zealand, 1883 - #14

6 October

Very cold to-day but dry the ship is sailing about 9 1/2 miles she is sailing very steady we had a little snow about 12 Oclock to night.

7 October

Sunday fine morning but very dull and cold afternoon the ship is sailing about 8 miles an hour we had no service today as the ship was rolling so heavy the wind right behind her I was on watch this morning from 2 oclock to 5.

8 October

Very wet day the ship is very steady the wind on her quarter she is sailing about 10 1/2 miles an hour we have two young men in our compartment who had a fight after breakfast this morning x Fred Harris and W. J. Overend.

Richard Haydon: Shipboard Diary to New Zealand, 1883 - #13

1 October

fine day still very steady she is sailing very well today she is sailing about 13 1/2 miles an hour not quite so warm as yesterday a very large wave crashed over the deck this afternoon and knocked down 2 or 3 people and ducked several others rain came on this evening.

2 October

Very wet today and rather rough strong head wind. ship got off of her course she is 75 points out sailing about 8 miles an hour.

3 October

Very Rough today wind changed and got around more behind us this afternoon the ship is rolling and pitching very heavy she is got on her right course again very heavy waves was hung over her today today a very heavy one struck her this evening about 9 O'clock she is sailing about 6 1/2 miles an hour a large number of the passengers are very sick.

Keeping Score: Butcher, Baker, But No Candlestick-maker, Cricket 1884

The Star, Issue 5194, 27 December 1884, Page 3

"A cricket match was played, on the Rangiora cricket ground yesterday, Publicans v. Butchers and Bakers. H. Archer captained the former, and Mr T. Dench the latter. At the conclusion of the game, one score sheet gave the Publicans the victory by two runs, and the other, their opponents by three. The game, therefore, remains undecided."

Won, lost, tied, drawn, these are the accepted outcomes of a cricket match. But undecided?

One can conjecture as to the cause for the scoring discrepancy, with alcohol probably implicated in the scorers' inattention to accuracy.

Kuaka recalls helping make up numbers on a side playing Sunday pub cricket while in his teens. The novel innovation in pub cricket was that every third wicket was a "beer wicket" where batsmen and fielding side of legal age retired to the pavilion for a beverage. Minors were provided with a lemonade (7 Up for today's youth).

The news report is silent on the matter of why the candlestick makers were not invited to make up the butcher & baker side. (You need to know your nursery rhymes to get the reference).

Richard Haydon: Shipboard Diary to New Zealand, 1883 - #12

28 September

Still very cold the sea is running very high today. large waves often washing over the deck the ship is sailing about 12 1/2 miles an hour.

29 September

Very cold wind still slight rain this afternoon wind got around behind us again today changed about 1/2 past 3 oclock ship sailing about 9 1/2 miles an hour been out 8 weeks today.

30 September

Sunday: Very Fine day nice and warm in the Sun the ship is very steady today sailing about 9 miles an hour we passed a Barque this afternoon we have about 4530 miles more to go.

Tommy Taylor, Christchurch MP, On The Unemployment Problem, 1909

Tommy Taylor, 1862 - 1911.

One might ask what has changed in 100 years?

The Star, 22 July 1909, p. 3

[A delegation of the unemployed] "made its way to the office of Mr T. E. Taylor, M.P. Mr Taylor heard the deputation in the door of his office, the Right to Work Bill figuring largely in the representations of the spokesman [Mr Kilgour].

"In replying to the deputation Mr Taylor said that the matter was not one that could be met by the City Council. They could not ask a Council like that of Christchurch to find the funds to employ labour that came from all parts of the country.

The Council's revenue was derived from one set of people, and they could not be expected to provide for the surplus labour of Riccarton, Kaiapoi, Avon and other parts of Canterbury, but only for that proportion that was resident in the city. If it was to do so, it must be subsidised by the other local bodies.

The general Government, continued Mr Taylor, was the authority that ought to find employment. It got money from all sources, and that was the money that should be applied. The Government had been asked to do a little, but it would not do it, not even to the laying of the foundations of the new Customs House buildings in Christchurch, which would give work for twenty or thirty men. The Government must take the responsibility. Individual members, or three city members, could do nothing, even in conjunction with other members.

The Government had point-blank refused to do anything, and had refused in response to a suggestion from him to put any more men from the South Island on bushfelling. The responsibility was on the Minister in the meantime, and all that the members could do was to "handle" the Government when the House met in October.

The Prime Minister was away, and apparently before he went it had been decided how much was to be done.

Continuing, Mr Taylor said that he would telegraph to the Acting-Premier stating that there were a large number of men still unable to find work, "although," added Mr Taylor, "things are not so bad as they were a fortnight ago." There was a chorus of dissent from this assertion, but Mr Taylor stuck to his guns. "Skilled labour is getting employment," he said, " and the building trade is brisker. Money is becoming easier, and in two or three months we will be back to the normal.

Of course, you want work in the meanwhile. A few of you, I suppose, don't want work, but I think nine out of ten of you do really want work.

If a Right to Work Bill is passed," continued Mr Taylor, "you must clearly understand that the right to choose what kind of work you shall do is gone from you absolutely. If a man has got long hair and thinks God made him a poet, he cannot come to the Government and say, 'I want work as a poet.' Don't forget that. The men will become mere machines. No Government will undertake to find a sufficient variety of employment to satisfy the qualifications of every worker. If a man is a carpenter he might have to go out and do farm labouring."

"That is what we do now," interjected one of the crowd.

"Yes," said Mr Taylor, "you do that at a pinch, but when the pinch is over you want to do what you choose."

There was general assent to this poser, and the faces of the crowd became slightly thoughtful.

"I think myself," resumed Mr Taylor, "that every unemployed man is a tax on somebody's industry, and I think the Government ought to take an opportunity for finding work for every man unemployed. I will use my best endeavours to have a Right to Work Bill passed."

"I am satisfied if they were all like you," commented another of the crowd, " this state of things would not exist at all."

"I don't know," replied Mr Taylor. "The unemployed problem is a difficult thing. l am a Socialist up to a certain point, but every man likes to be independent, and he would not assent to becoming a mere machine under socialistic regulations." In conclusion, Mr Taylor stated that he believed ihe Government had made up its mind to let things straighten themselves out, and it was mighty little that the Government would do."

Tommy was adamant that the national government had shirked its responsibility to restore employment and it was the level of government best equipped to finance and administer work programmes. It took another 25 years to get such action during the midst of the Great Depression - and still, a century later, it is only grudgingly undertaken.

It is a damning indictment of so-called affluent societies and their "civilization" that unemployment rates in 2009 should be topping 10 percent when the straightforward means of procuring their citizens a stable livelihood have long since been "discovered".

The Star newspaper, by the way, revealed its bias against the unemployed of 1909 referring to the morning's gathering of unemployed as "a motley dozen of men", ridiculed Mr Kilgour's addressing the assembled as "kumreds" and another speaker as having a "strong immigrant accent" as if that was a black mark in a society of immigrants.

Tommy T (Tea Total Tommy) certainly was no usual politician - he was no party man - and much loved for it by those for and against him, evidenced by the massive turnout & affection shown at his funeral in 1911. He was, as one astute observer noted, not a politician whose chief concern was his prospects at the next election but was "a statesman who legislates for future generations".

As one born on the supposedly "wrong" side of the railway tracks - and gasworks - in Christchurch and who, while growing up, heard the bitter tales of enforced, long term unemployment on both sides of the family before the Great Depression, Tommy T. was alright by me.

I might say RIP Tommy, but like Joe Hill, Tommy's response might be "I never died, said he". Go organize.

Richard Haydon: Shipboard Diary to New Zealand, 1883 - #11

24 September

A very fine day and a little warm in the sun and I have washed my clothes to day the ship is sailing very steady to day going about 8 miles an hour. we had a heavy rain last night about 1 o'clock but it didn't last long.

25 September

Very cold today and the ship is sailing very slow and it is got out of its course to day and there was a head wind this afternoon and so they had to turn the ship the ship is sailing about 3 miles an hour 4 Points out.

26 September

Rather dull to-day not so cold as yesterday the ship is got on her right course again she is sailing about 9 miles an hour the wind is got around behind again.

27 September

Very cold wind to-day sea running rather high the ship is sailing about 10 miles an hour wind changed this afternoon saw a number of large fish this evening. porpoises [?]

Richard Haydon: Shipboard Diary to New Zealand, 1883 - #10

Montage of Life on Board Emigrant Ship 1875, Illustrated NZ Herald, 9 April 1875.

18 September

A _____ _____ wind the sea running very high the ship rolling and pitching very heavily running about 12 or 13 miles an hour very rough last night hail fall this morning.

19 September

The weather about the same as it was yesterday and sailing about 12 miles an hour the Nelson in sight again today all well.

20 September

It's still very cold to day we saw a large number of birds flying around the ship today sailing about 11 miles an hour we had one man fell down with rolling of the ship and cut his eye badly.

21 September

It is not quite so cold today the sea is quieter too the ship don't roll about so and the Nelson is in sight again today but is behind us sailing about 9 miles an hour all well.

Richard Haydon: Shipboard Diary to New Zealand, 1883 - #9

Dolphin Pelorus Jack, shadowing ship on Picton to Nelson run, circa 1904. M Esson, photo.

15 September

A fine morning held at [sic] Bazaar on board for the Merchant Seamen Orphan's Asylum a heavy squall came on all of a sudden this afternoon with heavy rain the cry was all hands on deck for the first time since we left England off the Cape of Good Hope sailing about 11 miles an hour all well.

16 September

Sunday very cold had two or three hail storms today sea running very high a strong wind we passed a Island called Tristan D. Cunha last night a large number of Cape pigeons flying around us sailing about 12 1/2 miles an hour.

17 September

We had a heavy squall this morning about 1/2 past 3 o'clock the cups and dishes flying all over the floor the ship rolling very heavy all day the sea often washing over the deck sailing about 13 miles an hour we saw a large number of black fish called the Dolphins this evening alls well.

Richard Haydon: Shipboard Diary to New Zealand, 1883 - #8

Spermaceti Whale. J Stewart, Lizars, Edinburgh,1837

11 September

Rather cloudy today the wind is got behind the ship she is rolling heavy sailing about 10 miles an hour the Nelson passed us this morning getting ready for rough weather taking down the old sails and putting new ones up. is on her right course.

12 September

A fine day the wind keep changing about sailing 8 miles an hour we saw a large whale this evening is about 50 feet long. I am on watch tomorrow morning from 2 till 6.

13 September

A wet morning cleared up about 12 o'clock we fell in again with the Nelson sailing about 10 miles an hour we had to keep down below all the morning all well.

14 September

A dull morning fine in the afternoon I washed my shirt today the Nelson still in sight rather cold wind sailing about 9 miles an hour.

Richard Haydon: Shipboard Diary to New Zealand, 1883 - #7

Emigrants on Deck At Sea, Illustrated London News, 20 January 1849

8 September

Fine today We have just been on the water for five weeks today we got at our Boxes the Captain said today he hopes to land us in 5 or 6 weeks time at Port Littleton it is a little dull today is sailing about 10 miles an hour.

9 September

Sunday fine all day a little breeze blowing sailing about 9 miles and hour had service this morning on poop. the Nelson in sight of us again today another sail in sight this afternoon all's well.

10 September

She is sailing very speedy going about the same has [sic] is was yesterday. A Breeze springing up again this evening we got away from the Nelson today the sailors do say they think we shall get to New Zealand before she does and we got to go 200 miles farther up because Dunedin is nearly in the south of the middle Island it seems to be a chase between the both of them.

Richard Haydon: Shipboard Diary to New Zealand, 1883 - #6

The SS Nelson, sister ship to SS Taranaki. Photographed by Alexander De Maus, at Port Chalmers, Otago in 1883, quite possibly at the end of the voyage that Richard Haydon records in his diary. Owned by the Shaw Saville Line, the Nelson completed 14 voyages to Port Chalmers from the UK between 1874 and 1889.

5 September

A fine day the ship is still pitching and rolling she sailing splendid today is going at the rate of 10 miles had a birth aboard Mrs Ward of a son all's well.

6 September

A fine day sailing about 11 miles an hour we felled in with the ship called the Nelson belonging to Glasgow she is a sister ship to the Taranaki she is loaded with passengers on board from Scotland bound for Port Chalmers the capital of Dunedin N. Zealand.

7 September

A fine day beginning to get a little cooler. Nelson in sight of us today another sail hoved in sight about 5 [or?] 6 o'clock this evening sailing about 10 miles an hour today.

Richard Haydon: Shipboard Diary to New Zealand, 1883 - #5

Sighting & Signaling Other Vessels:

2 September

Sunday. We had a shower of rain this morning the sea rather rough ship rolling and pitching rather heavier sailing about 9 miles an hour held service this morning.

3 September

A fine day ship still pitching and rolling heavy sailing about 10 miles an hour the ship is on the right course again today. We passed a vessel today called the Englewood of Bristol for homeward bound and we have got the South East trade wind now and we hope to soon get round the Cape all right.

4 September

The ship still pitching and rolling very heavy the sea often times washing over the deck a squall this afternoon and heavy rain falling speed 11 miles an hour.

According to The Star newspaper report of the Taranaki's voyage published upon the ship's arrival in Lyttelton on 22 October 1883, the Inglewood was sighted on September 3 from San Francisco to Liverpool, 97 days out, in 43 deg 8' south and 20 deg 38" west.

Richard Haydon: Shipboard Diary to New Zealand, 1883 - #4

Festivities on Crossing the Line

Athletic sports were held on crossing the Line. Haydon records the sports events as:

1st Standing Long Jump
2nd Three Legged Race
3rd Standing High Jump
4th All Fours Race
5th Wheel Barrow Race
6th Hop Skip & Jump
7th Cock Fight (?)
8th Sack Race
9th Obstacle Race
10th Tug of War

Amount of money: 6 pounds, 18 shillings.

Richard Haydon: Shipboard Diary to New Zealand, 1883 - #3

Crossing the Line

The Graphic (London), 26 November 1887.

30 August

A fine day she is gone off her course we are expecting bad wind in crossing the Line tonight sailing about 7 miles an hour got a nice breeze for the Tropics all well the setting of the Sun in the evening is a splendid sight to see in the Tropics it turns all colours.

31 August

A nice cooling breeze sailing about 9 miles an hour but it is rather ? and cloudy we crossed the Line last night sailing about the same rate as yesterday.

1 September

A fine day nice breeze sailing about 9 miles an hour we passed two vessels we had some amusements this afternoon. Athletic Sports by the emigrants and sailors and had a concert this evening all's well.

Richard Haydon: Shipboard Diary to New Zealand, 1883 - #2

SS Taranaki

Richard Haydon's diary continued:

23 August

she is sailing about 3 1/2 miles up to 1/2 past 3 o'clock when the wind began to sprang up and sent her on about 7 miles an hour we had a shower of rain with it we are about 860 miles from the line [Equator] we saw several vessels about 6 o'clock this morning it gets dark about ? of 6 o'clock evenings.

25 August

A strong side wind. sea washed over the deck bit calmed down a little towards the evening sailing about 9 miles an hour.

28 August

Its very hot today this ship is got a little out of her course the wind still the same sailing about 7 miles an hour we saw a large numbers of birds they were called the stormy petrels.

Richard Haydon: Shipboard Diary to New Zealand, 1883 - #1

Richard Haydon's shipboard diary of his voyage to New Zealand upon the SS Taranaki between 4 August and 21 October 1883 is a modest affair both in prose and physical appearance. Written in pencil on a small folding notebook 5" x 3" it lost its cover & back somewhere through the years, and possibly a few opening pages. It is so unprepossessing that it was nearly mistaken for a child's scribble book & likely would have been discarded but for a curious descendant taking a closer look...

The diary starts on 19 August 1883, suggesting early entries on the voyage have either been lost or Richard did not start writing until nearly two weeks into the voyage. Spelling, grammar, and punctuation have been retained as in the original, with some editorial comments in brackets for clarification. Not all entries are included here:

19 August

[first few lines indecipherable] today in the _____ held service at half past 10 o'clock on the poop. we saw a large number of flying fish this afternoon she is sailing about ? miles an hour. I am on duty as Watchman from 10 tonight till 2 morrow morning.

20 August

Its very hot today. we had to get our bedding on deck to air it and .... [indecipherable]. for the first time this morning the ship sailing about 5 miles an hour.

21 August

We ____ an Island in the afternoon called Cape De Verde very hot had to lift off a lot of our clothes is sailing about 6 miles an hour all's well.

22 August

The sea very calm ship sailing very slow today only going about 3 miles an hour and she is gone off her course we saw a large shark this afternoon a steamer past us about half past 4 with passenger on board she was called the Gelicia homeward bound for Liverpool our Captain reported to her with the flags to say that we was all right and we will be reported in the paper when she gets to England and the weather is still getting hotter.

Richard Haydon: Embarkation, August 1883

The Departure, Illustrated London News, 1850

It must have been with mixed emotions that young Richard Haydon journeyed from Chudleigh to the port of Plymouth on the Devonshire coast to embark aboard the clipper sailing ship the Taranaki for the voyage to New Zealand.

On the one hand, he was saying farewells to family members well-knowing that he might never see any of them ever again. A return voyage "Home" was expensive, hardly affordable on a carpenter's wage, and would take just as long as the voyage out to New Zealand. On the other hand, here was a chance for a young man to strike out on his own in a new land, to create a life for himself that might be more stable and rewarding than the one he had lived thus far.

There is no intimation in Haydon's shipboard diary that he was accompanied by other family members or friends on the voyage. A few names and addresses, presumably of other young men on the voyage, who may have disembarked in South Africa are recorded in the diary. A few years later, members of Richard's extended family seem to have arrived in New Zealand, opening a new chapter in his life. But that's another story, as they say.

On 4 August 1883, the Taranaki slipped her moorings and headed out to sea...

The Emigrant's Farewell: The Lord Be With You, artist James Fagan, 1853

Richard Haydon's Chudleigh

Church Hill, Chudleigh, at the turn of the twentieth century.

Richard Haydon's father, Thomas, moved from Bradninch on the other side of Exeter, Devon, to Chudleigh, sometime between 1851 and 1861 according to England censuses.

In 1861, Thomas was 26 years old, married to Sarah Haydon (nee Ellis) and was living on Exeter Street with their one year old son, William. Sarah's sister, Jessie, rounded out the household. Thomas had been a shoemaker apprentice in Bradninch in 1851 but by 1861 was employed as a gardener in Chudleigh.

Richard was born two years later in 1863, being joined by younger siblings John, Elenor, Peter, and Ann in subsequent years. After basic schooling along with his brothers and sisters, Richard took up a carpentry apprenticeship.

Chudleigh was a small market town that had relied on the wool trade for its livelihood. When the wool trade declined as the demand for substitute fibres such as cotton increased during the industrial revolution, Chudleigh experienced a loss in trade and the population fell from around 2,400 in 1841 to 2108 in 1861.

With the prospects for improving one's standard of living in traditional trades in Chudleigh looking uncertain, one can speculate that a young, unmarried carpenter's imagination and ambition were receptive to the sales pitch of agents seeking new emigrants for Australasia. Thus, in early August 1883, Richard Haydon embarked upon a long voyage to better his circumstances by settling in New Zealand.

But Richard Haydon was never to forget his home town, years later naming his house in Clarence Road, Christchurch, New Zealand, "Chudleigh".

Greetings from Devon postcard.
A type of card Haydons remaining in Chudleigh might have mailed to Richard Haydon in the early 1900s.

Richard Arthur Haydon, 1863 - 1927

Richard Arthur Haydon was born in Chudleigh, Devon, England about 1863 but would travel to the other side of the globe as a young man to live the rest of his life in New Zealand.

In August 1883 at the age of 21 he embarked at Plymouth, England for Lyttelton, New Zealand to start a new life. A carpenter by trade, he would work for the New Zealand Railways for the balance of his working life. Marrying within a few years of his arrival, he lived with his family firstly in Wanganui, then Dunedin, and Christchurch, the latter being where he ended life.

Neither famous nor distinguished, he - with tens of thousands of fellow emigrants - left his Old World home for a new one, never to return to whence he came. It was a one-way ticket.

No author or historian, Richard, with relatively little schooling, wrote a shipboard diary of his 1883 journey that has been read by but a mere handful of people over the past 125 or so years. No work of great literary value, it nevertheless leaves a young man's penciled account of his journey that may as well have been to the moon given the technological and emotional "distance" involved.