Margaret Sharp Ferguson was born in
Greenock on 8 January 1822. In 1845 she
married Robert Peace, a tinsmith also from Greenock. Margaret and Robert would go on to have 10
children and travel widely, eventually settling in Auckland, New Zealand in
1865 after a time in Newfoundland.
Margaret published a book of poems
"The Convict Ship and Other Poems" in 1850 (Robert A Baird,
Publisher, Greenock). The preface reads
-
"The wishes of many friends induced
the following sheets to be committed to the press. The copies of this little work will chiefly,
it is believed, circulate among the friends of the Authoress; it was therefore
thought better by those who collated its pages to retain in every case her own
thoughts in the very words she had chosen to clothe them with, than to attempt
to give a stronger artistic effect by the use of language less homely than she
had herself employed."
Among the many religious poems are several
which seem very personal to her. Many portray
her thoughts on family life and loss - "My Wee Son" - "Dear
laughing imp o'joy, thy een, Blue, blue as heaven's azure sheen." Others depict sights she has seen and her
life experiences.
One of my favourites is "To Newark
Castle, Port Glasgow". Many of the
verses are full-blown in their descriptive tone, but one or two capture the
beauty of the place -
"All, all are mute; thou alone art
remaining,
Sad wreck of the past, of the days that are
gone,
Still towering sublime; lovely even in
ruin,
None gaze on thee coldly, thou desolate
one."
Margaret and her husband travelled on the brig Ann Johnson to
St John's in Newfoundland where Robert set up business on Water Street as a
tinsmith making stoves. Margaret would
have eight children there (not all survived). She wrote poems of her life in Newfoundland.
However, by 1864 the family were once again
on the move. The Peace family along with
the Foote family bought a 132 ton 3 masted ship, Clara, the set sail for
New Zealand. Can you even begin to
imagine a journey like that - from Newfoundland to New Zealand with six children! There's a wonderful
description of the voyage written by a great-granddaughter of the Foote
family. You can read it here on the site
for the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Margaret's sister Isabella Ferguson was with them and you can read some of Margaret's diary entries of the voyage here.
It wasn't all plain sailing. The skipper, Captain Roper does not seem to have been popular with the passengers who complained during a stop over at Melbourne of the poor quality of the provisions on board.
On 30 June 1865 they arrived safely at New
Zealand. Robert once again set up in
business as a stove maker on Shortland Street, Auckland.
Margaret died at Auckland in 1897 aged 75 and Robert died in 1908. They are buried at the
Purewa Cemetery in Auckland.
I wonder if the young poet, Margaret Sharp
Ferguson Peace from Greenock ever imagined that her life with Robert Peace
would involve emigrating not just once, but twice with a large family in tow,
to make a brand new life on the other side of the world. What a remarkable woman!
