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Chapter 6 – Joe and Impressions

Joe told Alfred he seemed to have changed since they last met. “You have mellowed, and you no longer wear those colourful, modern style clothes, in fact you are wearing all sorts of clothing, nothing to do with style. Do you remember that bright yellow waistcoat you wore to the 1851 Exhibition at Crystal Palace? Have you any idea why you’ve ceased wearing those type of clothes?”

“I suppose it has something to do with the country itself” said Alfred. “My old style of clothing just would not be practical for me with the work I now do these days. I was presentable today, wasn’t I?”

Yes”. Laughed Joe.

Both men had changed in the intervening years, although they, themselves, were not really aware of it. Joe, the sophisticated businessman, and Alfred, the free and easy man, spending a lot of his time alone, in wide open spaces. His clothes had to keep him covered in searing heat, or on snow covered mountain ranges. The sun was so strong, he would have got burnt, without some sort of clothing to cover himself.

“It is a strange country Joe. It is a mad, wild, exciting place, a place where anything can happen; rivers flow contrary to those in Europe, areas so hot that living beings can be dried out by the wind and the sun; then there are the mountains capped with snow, where the cold wind can freeze things beyond recognition; animals and birds that behave and look like no other. I have seen and experienced them all and here may be more to come”.

Instead of the happy go lucky young man he had been, Alfred was now a more mature young man, who considered the situations as they presented themselves. He had to be a survivor, and he knew it, he also had a plan, which he had not, as yet, divulged. As for Joe, he had experienced responsibility for his father’s indigo business, which by now had incorporated his deceased uncle’s thriving business.

Joe’s family were merchants dealing in indigo, a substance, which produced a blue dye, used widely in the textile trade. The plant originated in India where it had been used for centuries but it needed to be treated by a certain process, before it could be used in dying. The Indigo colour was and is used in many other ways but mainly for the fabric trade in the west. In India it is also used in the herbal medicine.

This business continued to thrive under Joe’s care. It had to, because other members of the family had to be supported by it too. He was the eldest of the family: some of the younger members needed supporting until they were old enough to take responsibility within the firm, or for the girls, until they married. He had experienced great disappointments and grief, more than enough for one man in a lifetime, but much of it had occurred within a few months.

Now it was a time of recession, one of those financial situations that come and go, and at that time, Joe was having difficulties buying and selling his goods at home and abroad, so his profits had declined. It had been like that when his father had died. Then he had an experienced uncle to help him, but now Joe was on his own making the decisions and was wondering if he could survive. He was trying to spread his interests. He had recently taken his youngest brother Charlie out to the States where the family had business interests, so that his brother could learn about working in business before then he could go on to family in Canada and learn about brewing .

All this was fine in theory, but the circumstances Joe had envisaged had changed. Someone had to go out to New Zealand now, not in a year or two’s time. Joe’s sister Annie was engaged to be married to Alex

Montgomery. Joe had already had started a new enterprise in New Zealand and had asked Alex to go out there to supervise this new project whilst at the same time, preparing for his marriage to Annie. That had meant building and preparing a house for her arrival.

Obviously, there had been a frequent exchange of letters between Alex and Joe, but Joe had got an uneasy feeling about what was going on in New Zealand. He could not put his finger on it, but Alex kept asking for more money, and yet he had not seen the profit he had been expecting. If Charlie had been free, Joe said he would have sent him out there, but he was under an obligation at that time to his Canadian uncle. Joe was also aware, that Alfred’s brother Charlton was not happy in his London office job and really wanted to be a farmer. He had promised Alfred he would join him in Australia in the near future.

Joe in the need of help, thought of Charlton once again. He felt he was a reliable young man, mature for his age.

“I wonder what he would think if I asked him to go out, to check what was happening in New Zealand”.

Joe had found a very enthusiastic young man, eager to take over the farm that Joe would give him in the Lyttleton area of Christchurch, New Zealand. It was all arranged, so that in 1861, Charlton had arrived in New Zealand. Alfred had been very disappointed, but his brother had reassured him, if all went well, he would join him in Australia eventually. Joe had made that a promise.

Joe’s family were merchants, dealing in indigo, a substance, which produced a blue dye, used widely in the textile trade. The plant originated in India where it had been used for centuries but it needed to be treated by a certain process, before it could be used for dyeing. The indigo colour was and is used in many other ways but mainly for the fabric trade in the west. In India it is also used in herbal medicine.

The last time the young men had met was around the time of the 1851 Exhibition held in Vauxhall Gardens, London, after which the large Crystal Palace had been moved to the area of London, which now carries its name. They went to see this fantastic exhibition together. Both men had lived in London since childhood, but there was one bit difference, Joe was a man of the world, whereas Alfred was like many thousand of other young men at this time. They had lived near one another, and it was these circumstances that brought them together in the first place.

When Joe’s father died, Joe had inherited the not so prosperous business. He was just twelve years of age. His uncle’s company and Joe’s father’s company merged, but it was not long before his uncle died too. Joe was not yet 21 years, but his uncle had stated in his will, that should he die, a specifically named man, would oversee Joe until such time as he was of age. A man under 21, (the official age of adulthood) would not have been able to deal with banks, or manage money, in theory, so Joe had ended up being left this business unexpectedly, and had to run it. His uncle had initiated him in good business techniques, and now he was justifiably proud of the thriving business. It took him overseas a lot. He was an indigo merchant and importer.

It had been in 1813 that Joe’s paternal-grandparents had emigrated to Philadelphia in America, along with several of their children, leaving just two of them in England, one of them being Joe’s father and the other this helpful uncle, a surrogate father in many ways. The family were therefore dotted around the globe; brother Charlie was currently in America. The idea being that he would be sent to New Zealand eventually, but this was in Joe’s head, no-one else knew of his plans or worries.

The family may have decided to emigrate, at a time when being a non-conformist, was held against you, and this would have been particularly important in relation to who would trade with the family. The Howitt family had grown up as Quakers, but were also influenced by other social groups such as Unitarians, PreRaphaelites and others.

There were restrictions as to what job or profession one could do if you were not a member of the Church of England. A certificate was issued to people, to show they had taken communion in the Church of England. If the certificate could not be produced, then certain jobs would be barred, including teaching, the law, any professional job and university. People in these professions or successful business would not deal business wise with a non-conformist, some of whom converted to Church of England, for the sake of their businesses. Uncle Godfrey had done his medical training in Edinburgh, because he was barred from all English Universities.

Many non-conformists, from the time of Elizabeth I, left the shores of England, for the freedom to worship in the way they pleased, and it was just to get away from the restriction imposed on families, that the Mayflower left for New England. Joe’s American family were involved in the American War of Independence, which to all intent was just a furtherance of their religious freedom.

Joe was born in the East End of London, in Dockland, in the days when there were many docks, most for loading and unloading, many firms having their own canal between the Thames and their wharf and the warehouses, and even their own dock, on a canal off the river. Other docks serviced ships, dry docks and wet docks. The north side of the Thames around the East End, where the river takes a wide curve, that surrounds a large area of land, which had been chanelled to produce these canals and docksides. It was possible to sail from the Thames on one side of this piece of land, and come out once again, into the Thames on the other side.

Alfred had not approved of all the fuss, although he went to a ball with Joe Todhunter, where they had met an assortment of women, both in dress and status. The young men used to go to dances together or have whole days out together, the former usually initiated by Joe. This period was also a good business opportunity for Joe, as it was for many other industrialists.

Alfred had gone back to the job he started in 1849 at the Standard of Freedom Office, with its dull routine that he so disliked. He had been working hard and diligently, but still could not find any pleasure in the work

On one occasion Alfred had written to his mother, away from home once again, to tell her of one very good day he had had with Joe. It had been a Sunday, when they went to Croydon in a dogcart, a small light-weight cart, (not pulled by a dog) but a horse or two. They spent some time getting suitably dressed for their day’s outing. Alfred’s clothes were his pride and joy and some called him a dandy. So much for his parent’s Quaker upbringing!

Now he was reunited with Joe, he asked “Do you remember that smashing meal we had at the posting house Joe.” Then he continued, “Do you remember what we had to eat? I know it was a long time ago, but I still remember.”

“Let me think” said Joe , “We had some fish I think,”

“Yes but what sort of fish, I remember it being turbot”. Sighing, Joe replied “Yes that’s right. Then we followed it with chicken, and ham, covered with a shrimp sauce, and of course accompanied by vegetables.”

“Do you remember the afters?” asked Alfred.

“Yes a lovely English apple tart, peaches and nectarines, all washed down with a 20 year old bottle of port.” Said Jo.e

Joe then asked what repercussions there had been, when Alfred’s mother had thought of their extravagance.

“I really cannot remember, so I presume there wasn’t any!c” Alfred replied.