Old Marlborough or The Story of a Province

Hart and Keeling, Palmerston North, 1900. First edition. Red cloth with gilt titles on front and spine. Bumped corners. Spine is faded. Binding tight although front hinge is cracked. Bright blue end pages. . Previous owner name inside. Some markings in pencil throughout. 478pp with ads at rear. Illustrations throughout. Solid copy.

Life must have been rough and ready in Old Marlborough for a teamster to change to a ?fresh team of horses? simply by reversing the position of the two already in the traces; and for a wild bull to lose his tail by impromptu surgery when a local doctor was threatened with dehousing. In this skilful and readable book, Lindsay Buick has traced the past of this colourful province, illustrating ? Old Marlborough? with many such anecdotes.

The terrible misunderstandings which led to the Wairau massacre are traced in detail, including verbatim reports of the subsequent trial. The effects of the massacre and discussed; they were long in receding and retarded the development of Marlborough. The intending settlers fled and as late as 1848 only 194 Europeans were settled in the district.

Lindsay Buick, meticulous historian and a fine story-teller, treats ?Old Marlborough? not only as a detailed history, but also as a typical segment of New Zealand?s pioneer past.