[Henry Harper, Anglican Bishop of Christchurch, New Zealand.] Autograph Letter Signed (‘Hë Christchurch’) to Rev. T. Scudamore Cunningham of Lymm, Cheshire, describing the terms and requirements for a New Zealand curacy.

Harper was the first Anglican Bishop of Christchurch and the first Primate of New Zealand, and he oversaw the building of the ill-fated cathedral at Christchurch. See his entry in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. The signature appears to read ‘Hë [for ‘Henricus’?] Christchurch’, and the letter is addressed to ‘Rev. T. Scudamore Cunningham / Lymm Cheshire’. 4pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged and creased. Folded twice. Fifty-seven lines of closely and neatly written text. A careful and detailed response to an enquiry from Cunningham regarding the requirements for migrating from England to become a curate in New Zealand. Harper begins by suggesting that Cunningham apply for information to his ‘Commissary the Rev. T. Sheppard Vicar of Eton Bucks’, and that if Cunningham’s references are satisfactory, and he is still ‘disposed to cast in your lot with the New Zealand Church’, Harper will be ‘prepared to receive’ him. ‘There are Cures vacant at the present time, but they cannot be kept vacant if there should be an opportunity of filling them.’ There follow references to parishes, vestries, the Board of Nominators, the Diocesan Synod and Fund (providing ‘the amount of at least £280 per annum, if a Parsonage House shall have been provided in the Cure, or £320 where there is no Parsonage’). Harper notes that some cures ‘require a Clergyman accustomed to driving or riding - alike for the Sunday Services and for visiting, which whether the Cure be in a town or in the country is indispensable to the work and success of the ministry’. Postscript: ‘I cannot offer any voyage money’. See image of first page.