A Year's Housekeeping in South Africa

This 1877 publication vividly recounts the writer and journalist Lady Barker's experiences in colonial South Africa.

Mary Anne Barker (Author)

9781108029629, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 30 June 2011

366 pages, 9 b/w illus.
21.6 x 14 x 2.1 cm, 0.46 kg

First published in 1877, this book is one of several colonial memoirs by the successful writer and journalist Lady Mary Anne Barker (1831–1911). Born in Jamaica and educated in England and France, Lady Barker spent periods living in New Zealand, South Africa, Mauritius, Trinidad, and Western Australia following the career and colonial service appointments of her second husband, Frederick Broome. She arrived in Natal in 1875 and lived there for three years while Broome was Colonial Secretary. This book, presented in the form of letters, vividly describes the family's experiences and domestic life. It begins with Barker's early impressions of Cape Town and Natal, mentioning particularly the 'forlorn and discouraging' Robben Island. Barker's detailed observations on African weather and scenery, Zulu customs and beliefs, and the interactions between indigenous people and the European colonists are still an invaluable resource for those interested in nineteenth-century colonial Africa.

1. Cape Town
2. Along the coast
3. Fair Natal
4. First days
5. Turning a sod
6. Play and business
7. The Kafir at home
8. African weather and African scenery
9. Zulu witches and witch-finders
10. Kafir missions and missionaries
11. A bazaar and a picnic in Africa
12. Kafir weddings and kafir kraals
13. Regulars and volunteers
14. An expedition into the bush.

Subject Areas: African history [HBJH]