Lady (Mary Anne) Barker (1831-1911) wrote these letters to ôrecord the expeditions, adventures, and emergencies diversifying the daily life of the wife of a New Zealand sheep-farmer.ö It was a time in New Zealand when women shared with men the loneliness, difficulties and hazards of pioneering. BarkerZs letters show an excitement for her adventure in a new land and her delight in the things she saw.