Self-portrait as a New Zealand bushman, Mangorei, Taranaki, New Zealand, 1856, 1856. Pencil and wash, Rex Nan Kivell Collection (Pictures), National Library of Australia

Strutt spent a dozen years in the Antipodes between 1850 and 1862. In 1852 he married Sarah Agnes Hague in Melbourne, and they went on to have three daughters in the city. In February 1855 the family sailed to New Zealand to escape the 'trying nature of the excessive heat'. Sarah gave birth to a son while they were in New Zealand, but after 18 months the family returned to Melbourne, overwhelmed by the 'awful stillness' of the New Zealand bush.