Name/Title

Bible

About this object

This brown, leather-bound Bible belonged to Charlotte Sarah Lush and is inscribed “Charlotte S. Lush, from her father, 1853.”

Charlotte was born in Farringdon, England, on 17 September 1844, and was the daughter of the Anglican minister, Vicesimus Lush and his wife Blanche. Charlotte would have used this Bible frequently in church services, prayers, and other church-related activities.

In 1850, Charlotte immigrated to New Zealand when her father was appointed the minister in charge of the All Saints Church in Howick, Auckland. Tragically, Charlotte died from scarlet fever on 25 September 1854 aged 10 years. Her younger sister, Mary Eliza, and her younger brother, Alfred, also died from scarlet fever within a ten-day period. While the death of a child was not unusual during the Victorian era, this does not mean that the loss was not felt greatly by parents and family members. This is evident in her father's journal when he writes about her painful absence: "Showed the household the Phantasmagoria [a type of magic lantern]. ... Mary Abraham, Blannie and Charlie were delighted and so I was happy in showing it, but I cannot help thinking most painfully of the others, Charlotte in particular - the expected Magic Lantern forming so often the topic of her pleasing anticipations. Poor child, New Zealand has not been the same to me since her death." (1)

(1) Alison Drummond (ed.), 'The Auckland Journals of Vicesimus Lush 1850-64,' 1971, p. 164.

For more information about the Lush family and Ewelme Cottage, which is cared for by Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga, visit our website.

Medium and Materials

Paper, leather and cloth

Measurements

18 x 11 x 3cm

Date Made

Pre-1853

Subject and Association Keywords

Girlhood

Credit Line

Collection of Ewelme Cottage, Heritage New Zealand Historic Pouhere Taonga

Object Type

Book

Object number

XEC.3699

Copyright Licence  

All rights reserved

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