Family history results in a fascinating novel

Chris Else from Bookprinting.co.nz, with author Robyn R Pearce, and the first proof copy off the press. Photo / Supplied

Robyn Pearce has a story to tell and she has chosen to tell it in a unique way.

She has written a novel, but what she has to say is not entirely fiction.

Her novel It Happened on Fifth Street is an interesting mix of research and creation, in which she uses the characters and real names of her own ancestors.

"Joseph Burnett and his family were Whanganui residents, as was my great-great-grandmother," says Robyn. "In 1856, two families emigrated from England to Wanganui: Joseph Burnett and his wife Mary Anne, and Caroline and Thomas Liffiton [Caroline was first cousin to Joseph].

"They came out on the same ship together … the Burnetts opened a bakery and confectionary shop in Whanganui and prior to 1870 bought some land out at Fordell and in 1870 their house was finished. That's Oneida, one of your lovely historic houses."

Robyn has visited Oneida at Fordell.

"The Liffitons were also prolific writers but the Burnetts were particularly, and the two families exchanged letters. The Burnetts also had a huge repository of stuff they had been collecting for some time, relating to the years they had spent in America, where they still had relatives. The correspondence kept on coming, backwards and forwards.

"I'm descended from Caroline and Thomas Liffiton."

Caroline and Thomas' daughter became Lady Eleanor Douglas and there is a memorial to her and her husband, Sir Robert, in Whanganui's Heads Rd Cemetery.

Robyn got involved in the story when one of her relatives, another Burnett descendant, Robin Ward, a woman in Tauranga, made it her life's work to transcribe the Burnett documents.

"Joseph's son Cornelius became a lawyer in Whanganui and was meticulous about recording things, so in the Whanganui Regional Museum there are some day books and journals which are Cornelius's transcriptions of his father's and family's letters."

The bulk of the writings are in the Alexander Turnbull Library.

"Robin Ward took it upon herself to type up those communications, and an aunt of mine has been the holder of family stuff on our side; the two women connected. So 20 years ago I was given the first four volumes of Robin Ward's work."

There's a lot more Robyn hasn't seen yet.

"These are primary resources: such a treasure trove."

Robyn's aunt suggested there was a novel in there. Robyn agreed but was too busy at the time to do anything about it.

Now, not so busy with her time management business, Robyn was able to give it the time it needed and has produced her first novel, based on the Burnett family in America.

"What excited me when I started reading this material was the courage of these people. The Burnett family left England in 1830, seeking a better life."

Robyn says Cornelius the father was a visionary but he also would have made a good Don Quixote.

"He would take a cause that he felt passionate about and it didn't matter what consequences there were, he would tilt at that windmill as hard as he could."

The windmill he chose was the abolition of slavery.

"They lived in Utica in upstate New York for a time and that was a hotbed of abolitionism."

The family moved to Cincinnati and became part of the Underground Railroad, helping runaway slaves to safety and freedom.

Robyn has visited the places where the family lived.

"The fiction is what any historical novelist will do and put the flesh around the bones. I do say at the back of the book what is fiction and what is not."

Most of what happens in the novel is true, based on the primary resources from the time, but Robyn has used those letters and journals to create an interesting story about a family and community caught up on opposing sides in the beginnings of abolitionism, which would eventually result in the American Civil War and the emancipation of all slaves.

We see the people involved, listen to them talking to each other and trying to convince the general population – unsuccessfully – that their cause is righteous.

"The abolitionists were really unpopular in those days: they were considered to be fanatics," says Robyn.

The Burnetts in Cincinnati were ostracised, attacked, their businesses and homes became unsafe, but their zeal remained undimmed as they fought against slavery.

There is an interesting technique she uses to give her modern day character, Abigail, access to the people who wrote the letters and journals she studies with her aunt, a parallel with Robyn, her aunt and the primary resources.

It Happened on Fifth Street is an enjoyable read, filled with interesting people and a document of a time we now find hard to imagine.

It's available on Amazon and a Google search of Robyn R Pearce will give a wealth of information and further reading.

Robyn is well along the way into her second novel in this series.