Thomas REVELL Esq of Kaipoi [9303]

  General Notes:

The Memoirs of Eliza Henrietta Torlesse (nee Revell) wife of Rev Henry Torlesse, "Stoke Lodge" Rangiora N.Z.
July 25th 1918
Papanui Road, Christchurch
I think I will try and write down something of our early arrival in Canterbury, New Zealand in the last of the Canterbury Association ships, the "'Minerva".
Captain Johnson was a most kind and considerate man and was much liked by all his numerous passengers.
We had left Ireland in October 1852, the day that the Duke of Wellington died. We were a large family. My father Thomas Revell, at that time was prevented from coming with us. My mother, with five sons and five daughters, crossed to England in a small steamer and had a very rough journey.
We had nice lodgings off the Strand, where we were delayed several days longer than we expected to stay, owing to some delay in the Minerva not being ready for the voyage. In the end we got out to sea in a hurry, as some new regulations were to come into force the day after we left the docks. It was some days before we all got settled down to sea life. We lost our anchor coming down the channel and we were nearly lost on Goodwin Sands. We put
into Plymouth for an anchor and some other things. There we met Rev. C.M. Torlesse and his wife, who had come to Plymouth to see the last of their son Henry, who was a passenger on the "Minerva". We had introductions to the Torlesse and to Edward Gibbon Wakefield (a brother of Mrs Torlesse), through a friend in Ireland, a Dr Mansell. Mrs Torlesse asked my mother and eldest sister to spend Saturday on shore with them - which they did, and were introduced to several friends of the Torlesse. Next day mother and I were asked and we had a nice visit. It was very sad to see the dear old Mrs Torlesse cling to her boy. She had only two sons; the elder Charles Obin Torlesse had gone to New Zealand some time before on a survey party under Captain Thomas. Henry was leaving England on account of bad health and it was thought that he would benefit very much by a long sea voyage, and be able to return to England in a year or two.
Mrs Torlesse begged us to do whatever we could to cheer and help her boy on the voyage. My brothers, William and Edward, took great care of Henry and played chess and other games with him on the days he was well enough to play. We had a very long voyage, 118 days from shore to shore. We were becalmed in the tropics for a fortnight. (These were the days of sailing ships). We had a pleasant voyage on the whole, but just south of New Zealand, we had a very bad storm and we were in danger for a while.

1. The Minerva, 830 tons, was the second last ship sent out by the Canterbury Association. She left England 12/10/1852 and arrived Lyttleton 02/02/1853 with 99 passengers; 28 first cabin, 18 second cabin and 43 steerage.
2. Reverend C.M. Torlesse, Stoke-by-Nayland.
3. C.O. Torlesse surveyed in Nelson in 1840's - returned to England and back to Canterbury 1848. He surveyed North Canterbury, between the Waimakariri and Waipara rivers. Bought 100 acre sections and built the first house in Rangiora; also had the Fernside run 1851.

Page 2.
It was a lovely clear morning when we sailed up Lyttleton Harbour. We saw for the first time "Maoris", and we were all amused with them. They evidently thought we looked queer.
They brought beautiful kits of new potatoes on board to sell. . . . . other people brought lovely bread and butter, which was greatly enjoyed after ship's bread. . . . . it was so good. We landed at a small jetty and went to the barracks close by, where we had a very long large empty room. We made it comfortable with our ship's beds etc., and made our boxes into a dividing wall, and so had two rooms. We had the use of the washhouse, a huge place, with three boilers. We were a family of eleven to wash for and we had a very large extra wash after being at sea for 18 weeks, the brothers helped us and we got it all clean, but did not try to iron very much at first.
William, Edward and John went up to the section of land we had at Kaiapoi and they had an acre of bush where they built a whare and set to work to saw timber. By Christmas time they had built a whare for the family at "Koratueka", Kaiapoi. We, the women folk, went on living at the barracks at Lyttleton. Mother had a son born a few months after we landed. We were very short of money, but some kind friends lent us some to go on with. I went to work as lady help to a family at Governors Bay, at the head of Lyttleton Harbour. My eldest sister took charge of mother and the children. We had some amusements and a dance soon after we landed. Georgina and self wore blue dresses and we were the only girls in colours, we were called the Blue Belles. In those days, people went to dances in white muslin's, which were often washed and came out quite fresh.
We had some nice friends in Lyttleton, which was a very small town at this time. Mr 4 Dudley was the Vicar at Lyttelton. The church that had been built, was intended to be a cathedral when added to, however it was so badly built that it had to be taken down and afterwards a nice building of stone was built. The Dudleys were moved to Rangiora in the year 1868 and lived there till the Archdeacon's death. He had retired and lived in his own house a year or two before his death. His second wife and his only daughter went on living at "Earnly" and both died there. The daughter lived quite alone there, when the house was burnt down one night, she was so badly burned that she died at once. I was very fond of Fanny and she liked us.
My father arrived in July 1853 and did not like the colonial ways at all. His health was not good for a couple of years before he died in 1868.
5 On December 24th 1853, we started to walk over the Bridle Path to Heathcote, where William met us with Mr Kerwin's bullock dray, kindly lent to take us to Kaiapoi. (Mr Kerwin and family were fellow passengers). It was a very hot day. We camped at the Styx River for lunch and to rest the bullocks. It was so hot that one of our fowls died on the journey. It was getting late when we arrived at Kaiapoi and we crossed the Cam in a boat to get to our whare and land. Edward and John had nice bread baked for us and also had cooked some meat for our Christmas dinner. We had bunks in one room and we had to make mother's and father's beds in the living room every night.

4. Arch Deacon Dudley, many references to him. See Hawkins, C.1. Jennings in Rangiora Borough School Jubilee booklet. The story is that Miss Dudley got out of the burning house, but rushed in again to rescue her dog.
5. They were 10 months in the Immigration Barracks - an unusually long time.

Page 3
We were in this whare till we were able to build a house. My brother's cut the timber for it then put up the house with help from other settlers. We all helped to put up the house in many ways. We were very comfortable in our new house and glad to have more room to live in. We had a nice big verandah, all along the front of the house and we soon had a garden
made and had fruit trees planted.
We cleared about half an acre and my brothers dug it and sowed wheat. When it was ready, we cut it with a scythe, then threshed the crop. We had a small handmill and ground the wheat and made it into bread. We had not much flour to use, as it was then very dear, 50 pound a ton, 4 pounds a two hundred weight sack. We really lived on rice for a good while - getting a quarter of mutton when we could do so. This was the early part of 1854.
My eldest sister, Georgina, was married to 6Luke Higgins of the Christchurch district. They afterwards lived at "Tara Hall" near Cust. Archdeacon Mathias came from Christchurch to perform the ceremony at Kaiapoi Church. This was the first wedding in this church, which was built on the sandhills, on the upper part of the North Road. Since then the building was removed to a better site. My youngest sister, Jane, was born at "Korotueka", and was a year old when Georgina was married .'William the eldest son, joined the police force and was in time moved to the West Coast and became Resident Magistrate over there, in the year 1868. He married Emily O'Callaghan and they lived in Greymouth for some years. We used to have a good many visitors and my brothers brought their men friends in the evenings. I often went to stay with the Charles Torlesses at Rangiora and we used to have great fun there. Charles had an Easter party each year and we young people got up Charades for the evening entertainment.
Continued in Eliza's file [1679]

Thomas married Margaret Elizabeth BREDDELL [10707] [MRIN: 3207] on 24 Feb 1827 in Teighlin Newcastle co Wicklow IRL. (Margaret Elizabeth BREDDELL [10707] was born on 24 Feb 1811 in Liverpool Eng, baptised on 4 Mar 1811 in St Nicholas Liverpool LAN, died on 24 Mar 1901 in Stoke Lodge Rangiora Canterbury NZ and was buried in Rangiora Canterbury NZ.)