A Christmas Cake in Four Quarters

Lady Mary Anne Barker, later Lady Mary Anne Broome (1831-1911), was born in Jamaica and educated in England. In 1865 she sailed for New Zealand with her second husband, Frederick Napier Broome. Both Mary Anne and her husband then became journalists. Still calling herself "Lady Barker," Mary Anne Broome became a correspondent for The Times, and also published two books of verse, Poems from New Zealand (1868) and The Stranger from Seriphos (1869). In 1870, she published her first book Station Life in New Zealand, a collection of her letters home. The book was reasonably successful, going through several editions and being translated into French and German. Other works include: A Chistmas Cake in Four Quarters (1871), a sequel to Station Life entitled Station Amusements in New Zealand (1873), First Lessons in the Principles of Cooking (1874), A Year's Housekeeping in South Africa (1880) and Letters to Guy (1885).