1887

In 1887, John and Alberta had a son called Walter. The records show that at that time John was an auctioneer's clerk, living in Bank Street, Cheadle. This means that the family returned from New Zealand to England sometime between 1885 and 1887.

If you wonder what an auctioneer's clerk does, as I did, you can find a description here:
http://www.careerplanner.com/DOT-Job-Descriptions/AUCTION-CLERK.cfm

Coming next ... the diary proper will start on the 2nd of January, which is the first entry I have. I see that there was an entry on 1st of January but on the copy I have, I can just see the top of the first line.