A Year's Housekeeping in South Africa

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

In this 1877 publication, the widely-travelled Victorian writer Lady Barker describes her experiences in colonial South Africa. Barker moved to Natal in 1875 as the wife of the Colonial Secretary, and recorded her impressions of domestic life and the local landscapes, peoples and customs in the form of vivid letters.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.