| Description |
215 pages, 12 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, facsimiles, portraits ; 23 cm |
| Contents |
England and Ireland, 1831-49 -- Voyage to China, 1849-50 -- Hong Kong, 1850-54 -- Tasmania and Victoria, 1855-63 -- New Zeland : the Waikato Campaign, 1863-65 -- A Tauranga settler, 1866-83 -- My trip from New Zeland via America to England and return trip : June-December 1883 -- Tauranga again, 1883-92 |
| Summary |
" James Bodell was born in 1831 near Nottingham, the son of poor parents. At sixteen he enlisted in the army and was sent first to Ireland, then slowly recovering from the potato famine, and then to Hong Kong, where most of the regiment died of malaria or other tropical diseases. He bought himself out of the army and went to Van Diemen's Land (later Tasmania) where he kept a hotel, but eventually became disgusted with the atmosphere of a recent convict settlement. In 1856 he moved to Victoria, where the great gold rush had begun, prospered, but finally lost his money in unwise speculation during a period of excessive drinking. In 1863 he volunteered to serve in New Zealand in the Maori Wars. Discharged in 1866, he was given a town lot of land as well as farming land by the government in the town of Tauranga, where he was an outstanding pioneer, making money, and becoming Mayor. He later made two return trips to England to visit his family in Leicester. In about 1881 he began to write his reminiscences ... and in 1978, on the death of one of his English descendants, the original manuscript was offered to Bodley Head for publication. It has been edited by keith Sinclair and presents a unique picture of how the British Empire was colonised and what life in the British Army of te time was like in the ranks.This is a frank, often amusing and very colourful account of the Empire seen from below." -- Inside front cover |
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Autobiography of a soldier who served in the Waikato campaign 1863 - 1865 (The New Zealand Land Wars.) and later settled in Tauranga |
| Analysis |
Bodell, James |
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Commonwealth countries Armed Forces Military life |
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Soldiers Biography |
| Notes |
Great Britain.. Army. Soldiers. Army life,. 1850-1870 - Personal observations (BNB/PRECIS) |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references |
| Subject |
Bodell, James, 1831-1892.
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Great Britain. Army -- History.
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Great Britain. Army -- Military life -- History.
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Great Britain. Army -- Military life.
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Commonwealth of Nations -- Armed Forces -- Military life.
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Soldiers -- Biography.
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Soldiers -- Commonwealth countries -- History.
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Soldiers -- Commonwealth of Nations -- Biography
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Soldiers -- Commonwealth of Nations -- History
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| SUBJECT |
United Kingdom -- Colonies.
http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85056632
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Great Britain -- History, Military -- 19th century.
http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85056841
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New Zealand -- History. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85091503
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| Genre/Form |
Autobiographies.
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| Author |
Sinclair, Keith, 1922-1993.
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| LC no. |
82145064 |
| ISBN |
0370302249 |
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