A modern view of Paihia
In a few more days the fourth year of our absence from England will be completed. Our first Christmas Day was spent at Plymouth, the second at St. Martin's Cove near Cape Horn; the third at Port Desire in Patagonia; the fourth at anchor in a wild harbour in the peninsula of Tres Montes, this fifth here, and the next, I trust in Providence, will be in England.
We attended divine service in the chapel of Pahia; part of the service being read in English, and part in the native language. Whilst at New Zealand we did not hear of any recent acts of cannibalism; but Mr. Stokes found burnt human bones strewed round a fireplace on a small island near the anchorage; but these remains of a comfortable banquet might have been lying there for several years.
It is probable that the moral state of the people will rapidly improve. Mr. Bushby mentioned one pleasing anecdote as a proof of the sincerity of some, at least, of those who profess Christianity.
One of his young men left him, who had been accustomed to read prayers to the rest of the servants. Some weeks afterwards, happening to pass late in the evening by an outhouse, he saw and heard one of his men reading the Bible with difficulty by the light of the fire, to the others. After this the party knelt and prayed: in their prayers they mentioned Mr. Bushby and his family, and the missionaries, each separately in his respective district.
A Victorian Christmas
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A Victorian Christmas: Victoria's Christmas
Victoria spends Christmas 1837 with a "merry" Lord Melbourne.
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A Victorian Christmas: Christmas Day In The Workhouse
For its December 25th, 1840 edition, the Morning Chronicle polled workhouse managers to discover what the poor of London could expect for their Christmas Day. The following is an extract of their report.
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A Victorian Christmas: Thackeray goes to the pantomime
In this extract from Roundabout Papers, William Makepeace Thackeray describes a festive entertainment which takes liberties with history. Not that Thackeray is above taking a few liberties of his own...
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A Victorian Christmas: Christmas in Dreamthorp
The essayist and poet Alexander Smith's Dreamthorp is a collection of essays he wrote in the countryside. This extract, titled Christmas, is anchored in the December of 1862, and includes some personal views which are very much of their time.
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More by Darwin
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A collection of extracts from the works of Charles Darwin
Some selected pieces from Charles Darwin's writing and work
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More from the 19th Century
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Death on the tracks: A 19th century train crash
An 1853 inquest takes evidence about a fatal train crash at New Cross.
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The outgoing Prime Minister and his replacement: Gladstone makes way for Rosebery
As Downing Street changes hands again, we dip into the archives to find out what happened in 1894 when ill-health forced William Gladstone to quit in favour of his foreign secretary Lord Rosebery. This extract originally appeared in The Northern Echo.
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How did Newcastle celebrate the 200th anniversary of Shakespeare?
The 400th anniversary of Shakespeare is being well marked around the nation, and around the globe (and the Globe). But how was the 200th anniversary marked?
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Contemporary accounts of the 19th Century
Drawn from a range of sources - including diaries, newspaper reports, biography and more - a range of voices from the 19th Century.
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