The Later Years ✶ A Letter Home, 1920

Hermann to Dalmahoy Campbell
Pine Grange & the Life Lease

Hermann, in his eighty-fourth year, writes of his old Korora farm, the war as “English prisoners,” and the cancelling of the life-lease on his former home

The Later Years Adelaide, Jan. 1913 Laura, Mar. 1913 Weilheim, Dec. 1913 Leipzig, Dec. 1913 ―― 1914–1921 ―― Sept. 1922 Oct. 1923 Nov. 1923

Hermann Rieck wrote this letter from Deisenhofen, near Munich, on 11 October 1920, to Dalmahoy Campbell, who had bought the Riecks’ old Korora farm, “Pine Grange.” In it Hermann recalls his forty years at Coffs Harbour, describes the couple’s wartime ordeal, and agrees — for £100 — to cancel the “Life Lease” that still gave them a right to their former home. The letter is in Hermann’s own, idiosyncratic English, reproduced exactly as written. The original is held by the Yarrila Arts & Museum, Coffs Harbour, and is reproduced here by courtesy of the City of Coffs Harbour.

Deisenhofen near Munich. 11/10 1920.

D. Campbell Esq.  Pine Grange
Coffs Harbour N.S. Wales
Australia

Dear Mr Campbell & Family!

For yourself and for all of yours I am harty glad that you for all this time have kept well by buying from us my old farm Pine Grange and living on it, for remaining on that sour swampy land, which you bought and sold again to Mr Sharp, you all would have perished. — Our old dear place on the Ocean is the most beautiful and healthiest place (a genuine Sanatorium) in the whole of Australia, where I lived for about 40 years, one of the first selectors in that blessed district and the very first man, who described this charming “Riviera of Coffs Harbour” all over Australia in English and German Australian news = papers. In consequence of my active life in this grand clime on the Pacific behind the shelter against the dry western winds by the densely wooded range, I am now close to the end of my 84th. year of life as strong and fresh and jolly as ever before, and so is my dear wife. —

And now, you are going to sell out ?.! — We lived through this horrible wartime, first as English Prisoners of War with our Sydney passport, and then, as we bought, to prevent to be put behind barbed wire, we bought, on advice, a small landed property, we are regarded as fugitives under the protection (and taxes) of the Bavarian Govt. In proportion as the German money got down, the famine got up, and we are in this approaching wintertime quite awful down in warm dress and food.

We had those days a very acceptable offer for our property here, and were waiting for cheaper passage to Australia (which at present is enormously high, as almost all German steamers are taken or destroyed) and we were — as winter approaches — we were anxiously waiting to go over to our home owned by us by our Life Lease Document in hand. But now we got your letter asking us to cancel the said document ! — On this we came, after long deliberation, to this conclusion : We will meet your desire and if you by cheque, or bill, or Money Order (which securest way you will find on inquiry with your banker or lawyer) send us £100 (one hundred pounds Sterg.) on our account to the firm :

J. H. Harrison Hogge Esq.
Head Office The Mutual Life Ins. Co. of New York
7 & 8 Norfolk Street Strand, London W.C.2.

We will, on receival of this sum, send to you the Life Lease Document, described in your letter of the 22nd August 1920, cancelled by us and witnessed by the English Consul at Munich in a registered letter.

We remain yours very truly
Hermann H. Rieck.
& wife Fanny E. Rieck.

  1. Author’s English preserved: Hermann was a native German speaker, and his non-standard forms are reproduced exactly — e.g. “harty” (hearty), “receival,” “to prevent to be put,” “the German money got down, the famine got up,” “news = papers,” and the abbreviations “Sterg.” (Sterling) and “Govt.”
  2. Buyer’s surname — “Mr Sharp”: the later purchaser of the swampy parcel is read as “Sharp.” The ornately formed capital was earlier read as “Dharp”; “Sharp” is taken as the settled reading.
  3. Salutation — “Mr” vs “Mrs”: the abbreviation could be read “Mrs,” but the letter is addressed in the heading to “D. Campbell Esq.” (Dalmahoy Campbell); read as “Mr.”
  4. Interlinear insertions: two short insertions are written above the line — “you all would have perished” and “German.” The first is an inserted clause whose precise intended position is slightly ambiguous; it is placed here at the point of insertion.
  5. Underlining: Hermann’s own emphasis, marked by underscores in the original, falls on “Riviera of Coffs Harbour,” “And now, you are going to sell out,” “Prisoners of War,” both occurrences of “Life Lease Document,” “on our account,” and the two signatures.
  6. “London W.C.2.”: the final figure of the postal district is ambiguously formed but is consistent with the Strand’s West Central 2 (WC2) district.
  7. Nationality context: Hermann describes living through the war as “English Prisoners of War with our Sydney passport,” then buying property “on advice” to avoid internment “behind barbed wire” — the lived background to the couple’s German naturalisation of January 1919. His reference to the “English Consul at Munich” in October 1920, after that naturalisation, is noted but not interpreted here. The signature “Hermann H. Rieck” (the H. for Hinrich) and the phrase “close to the end of my 84th year of life” both agree with the 1919 naturalisation certificate.
  8. Recipient and property: on the donor’s account, “D. Campbell Esq.” is Dalmahoy (“Dal”) Campbell of Korora, husband of Margaret Campbell; “Pine Grange” is the Riecks’ name for their Korora farm (said to be now known as Sapphire Pines). Treated as a working identification pending confirmation.
Source & Record Information
Record ID YAM M2021.55.8
Record Type Private letter (autograph, signed)
Written 11 October 1920, Deisenhofen, Bavaria
Author Hermann H. Rieck (with Fanny E. Rieck)
Recipient Dalmahoy Campbell, Korora
Repository Yarrila Arts & Museum, Coffs Harbour (M2021.55.8)
Status Draft — awaiting review
Full Citation
Hermann H. Rieck and Fanny E. Rieck, Deisenhofen, Bavaria, to Dalmahoy Campbell, Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, autograph letter signed, 11 October 1920; Yarrila Arts & Museum (YAM) Museum Collection, accession no. M2021.55.8 (donated by Robert Hunter, 2021), Coffs Harbour, New South Wales; digital image, Coffs Collections (https://coffs.recollect.net.au/nodes/view/73479 : accessed 23 June 2026).
View on Coffs Collections ↗

Letter reproduced by courtesy of the City of Coffs Harbour. Original held by the Yarrila Arts & Museum (Coffs Collections), accession M2021.55.8, donated by Robert Hunter, 2021. Both signatories are long deceased; the text is out of copyright in Australia. Readers are encouraged to verify against the source image linked above.