Honey, Silk and Cider - A Life Portrait of Henry Barrington

AA Balkema, 1956. Hardcover, 190 pages. Good condition. 

Clean; tightly bound.  

Henry Barrington (1808-1882) qualified as a lawyer before entering the English diplomatic service. He arrived at the Cape of Good Hope in 1838 and travelled to George. Here he met Captain Thomas Duthie of Belvidere from whom he purchased the farm Portland (formerly owned by George Rex) in 1842. Until his death in 1882, Barrington kept a concise daily farm journal and notebooks. He also maintained a weekly correspondence with his brother Lowther in England. Both brothers' letters were kept by the family, providing an amazingly complete record of the time.  Henry grew apples to produce cider and planted mulberry trees to produce silk. Much of Portland was destroyed by a veld fire in 1886. Henry's eldest son John died without issue and the estate passed to Katherine Newdigate.