Rose de Freycinet to Miss E. Ashburne, Paris, 1824

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A. H. Reed Autograph Letters and Manuscript Collection, Dunedin Public Library. Courtesy of the Heritage Collection, Dunedin Public Libraries.

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In November-December 1819 L’Uranie was in Sydney, where the Freycinets met Governor Macquarie. His death in 1824 prompted Rose de Freycinet to write from Paris to Miss E. Ashburne: ‘We were led to judge the goodness of his character on several occasions; he is one of those men whose death is regretted & felt by all those who had the good fortune to know him; his widow & his son are to be greatly pitied, for nothing can bring consolation for such a loss!’ She also makes reference to the voyage of L’Uranie, envying the journey Ashburne had recently made to Scotland. It was something she wished to do, rather than visit ‘the wild Sandwich [Islands]’ – that is, Hawaii – and ‘the cloud-covered rocks of Cape Horn!!’ This signed letter was found by Dr Roger Collins in the A. H. Reed Autograph Letters and Manuscript Collection at Dunedin Public Library.