Hopton Napier Broome (1866 -1866) Died of illness Place of Death: Whitecliffs, Canterbury
“During the last twelve hours of his life, as I sat before the fire with him on my lap, poor Fredrick kneeling in a prefect agony of grief by my side, my greatest comfort was in looking at the exquisite photograph from Kehren’s picture of the ‘Good Shepherd’ which hangs over my bedroom mantelpiece, and thinking that our sweet little lamb would soon be folded in thos Divine, all-embracing Arms”. Lady Barker – May 1866
Hopton’s mother was the famous Lady Mary Anne Barker whose books are well known to Cantab historians today. Altogether, she wrote 22 books including STATION LIFE IN NEW ZEALAND (her letters to England during her life at Seventen Station, Selwyn, Canterbury 1865 – 1867 ) which remained in print for over a century and was also translated into French and German.
Quite a strong-minded woman for the era, she decided to keep her late husband’s name (George Robert Barker was knighted for his leadership at the Siege of Lucknow) )in spite of marrying Frederick Napier Broome, a man 10 years her junior. It was until he was knighted in 1875 that she took his surname and became Lady Broome.
Upon her return to England in 1867, she worked as a journalist for ‘The Times’ and continued to make quite an impression on everyone she met.
Hopton is buried at Barbadoes Street Cemetery, Christchurch.
*Photo courtesy of Annette Bulovic*
