Mr & Mrs U

Through their letters to his native Shropshire in England between 1865 and 1902 Everard Upton and his wife, Eunice Adams, speak to us of the tribulations, but also of the pleasures, of life on remote high country sheep stations in the early years of the European settlement of Canterbury. Thomas Everard Upton is already immortalised in New Zealand literature by Lady Barker in her classic books Station Life and Station Amusements in New Zealand as “that kind and most good natured Mr.U,” and “the gentleman cadet”. Later Everard went on to manage High Peak Station, he and Eunice developing a close association with the owner Sir John Cracroft Wilson and his wife. These letters vividly describe what it was like to live, work and raise children in the high country of Canterbury during the early years of settlement. They also tell the history of a marriage that had an ignominious end. Mr & Mrs will be of great interest to family historians – a virtual ‘who’s who’ of Canterbury appears throughout the narrative. The book, with its detailed information and many illustrations, will also appeal to social historians with its fascinating insights into life in early Canterbury.

Author Biography

Audrey Adams is a graduate of Victoria University of Wellington and, although retired, still practises social work on a contractual basis. A descendant of Eunice Upton, she was born in Waimate and raised in Timaru. Her second cousin Mona Anderson (A River Rules My Life) encouraged and assisted during the long years of research and writing.