My Grandfather Joseph Ede Waller was born in Luton on 30th July 1839. He died suddenly on May 2nd 1877 at Chefoo. (See N.C. Herald May 12th 1877). As far as I can ascertain his father Thomas Waller was a Straw Plaiter by trade; and used to make straw hats and baskets etc. His mother was Jane Waller (nee Ede). Thomas Waller must have sent his son Joseph to China where the best straw could be obtained. It is unknown when he arrived in China but it may be shortly before the first entry in his log 1870.

You only have to glance at my Grandfather’s list of Stores and Provisions for two men for 18 days to understand what a riotous and dissolute existence he must have led. It’s no wonder he died young.

He married an Eurasian woman, my Grandmother, and sired two sons. My uncle, Henry Joseph Waller, was born on the 8th July 1875 and died on 15th March 1913, and my father, Arthur Joseph Waller, was born on 17th March 1877 and died on 1st September 1939. It can be deduced that both my uncle Henry and my father hardly knew their father.

Uncle Henry, barely one and a half years old, and my father, barely two months old, when their father died leaving them to be brought up by their mother. In any case they would never have enjoyed Christmas with their Dad as he was always out sailing, hunting and carousing with his cronies over the Christmas festivities, as we can see from his hunting log.

There are ten trips in total, the first four trips takes place over the Christmas period 1870 to 1873. The next six trips, 1874 to 1877 occur twice each year, once at the tail end of November and then again over the Christmas period.

My father on the other hand was always kind and loving. He enjoyed Christmas with his large family; there were six of us siblings. We always had a huge Christmas tree with real candles in those days, and there was a large Christmas cracker suspended from the ceiling that we used to hit with a walking stick until the toys came tumbling down.


Here is a list of provisions that were taken for a hunting trip lasting 18 days for two men:Provisions


And here is a recipe to make curry and also how to make shot!Footnotes