Pakeha settlers
Encyclopedia
Pākehā
settlers were Europe
an emigrants who journeyed to New Zealand
, and more specifically to Auckland
, the Wellington
/Hawkes Bay region, Canterbury
and Otago
during the 19th century. The ethnic and occupational social composition of these New Zealand Europeans or Pākehā varied from region to region.
to New Zealand directly after 1769 when Captain James Cook discovered New Zealand. No significant immigration occurred until 1840. Before that date most migrants were sealers, whalers and missionaries with their families.
established the New Zealand Company
in 1839. This company was established to attract settler
s from England
to set up homes and farms in New Zealand
. The objective of the company was to bring over a ‘slice of England.’ The company wanted a range of people from working class
to upper class
to establish a similar class system
in New Zealand as was in England. Settlers were offered paid passage and the possibility of eventually buying land at a price sufficient enough to attract them but also high enough to make them work manually for a few years to earn it. This principle was applied in many areas throughout New Zealand. Generally it worked and settlers began to arrive in droves.
was the first official settlement set up by The New Zealand Company
for recently arrived immigrants. The first settlers arrived at Petone
from England
in 1840. At this point the majority of immigrants came from England, particularly London
. Most of those who arrived were timber
workers, bullock
drivers, shopkeepers
, rope
makers and artisan
s. This posed a problem as Wellington was an agricultural settlement but there were few people with the skills to farm the land. It was clear that neither the occupational or social composition of this early settlement was varied and as a result this assisted in giving Wellington a shaky beginning as a developing settlement.
was the second Wakefield
settlement to be established although it was set up with some reluctance. Late 1840 Wellington settlers found that there was insufficient land available in their original settlement to satisfy their land claims and Colonel Wakefield was forced to offer them the option of land in the Wanganui settlement. This resulted in the social and occupational composition of Wanganui being much the same as Wellington. There was already a Māori population in Wanganui and they disputed the questionable land purchase by the New Zealand Company
. There was unrest between the Māori and Pākehā until 1848, when Donald Maclean, an assistant to the Native Protector, sorted out boundaries and land title by purchasing the area officially.
was the following settlement to be established. Originally the development of the settlement was organised by The Plymouth Company but they merged with the New Zealand Company
in 1840, resulting in New Plymouth becoming the next Wakefield settlement. Workers were attracted from England by being offered jobs working on establishing roads in the New Plymouth area. This originally brought a large amount of settlers to the region but in 1843 it was no longer financially viable for the English company in charge of this arrangement to offer this opportunity. The company in England to reduce spending gave the local agent and as a result they ended the offer of employment provided by the company. Because of the lack of employment opportunities that this resulted in many settlers left new Plymouth choosing to move to Auckland
or even Adelaide
. This did leave more job opportunities for the remaining settlers and by the mid 1850s New Plymouth began to prosper; by that time it had a population of 2000. It had the resources to export wheat
, barley
and oat
s to other settlements and the land was extremely cultivatable.
decided that they would establish a settlement for Scottish
Presbyterian immigrants. Fred Tuckett was employed to find the settlement and do the surveying. He settled on Otago
in the South Island
. Because of the isolation in Otago and the lack of previous development in the area, it was difficult to attract prospective farm owners. However the resident agent for The New Zealand Company who lived in the area was determined to get the scheme underway. A promotional campaign started up in Scotland and a public meeting in the Glasgow
Trades Hall inspired people enough to warrant the use of two ships to transport the new settlers to New Zealand. It did take time to establish the settlement in Otago mainly because the majority of the Scottish settlers were only working class and relatively poor. This meant that occupation wise they did everything for themselves, unable to afford to employ labour. Once the settlement had got under way most settlers had succeeded in establishing themselves on farms and were making money from agricultural work.
was formed after a meeting between Edward Gibbon Wakefield
and businessman John Robert Godley
. The Canterbury Association had clear and simple plans. A block of one million acres (4,000 km²) was to be acquired from the New Zealand Company
and sold to intending immigrants at £3 per acre.’ (Century of Change, ). The Canterbury Association did not want to have the same problems that The New Zealand Company had with absentee ownership in their settlements. To combat this, the Association required land purchasers or their representatives to be present in the colony before they could buy land. Unfortunately land sales were disappointing and even after a campaign promoting the Canterbury settlement the first batch of settlers included 545 with assisted passages and only 40 paying the full price. Because there were so few people there was not a varied range of labourers available, the majority of settlers were farmers and as a result it took longer to get the settlement underway.
was an unplanned settlement, established solely by settlers themselves through migration and immigration to the area. By 1853 there were approximately 8000 people living in the Auckland area with a wide range of skills among them and with about 17000 acres (69 km²) in crops. Auckland was the closest in New Zealand to an agricultural settlement. Auckland established itself so well that Lt. Gov. Hobson
picked it out to become the new capital of New Zealand and as a result, the land was officially purchased from the Resident Māori in the area – the Ngāti Whātua
.
s advertising New Zealand in England
did give many settlers false hopes, manipulating their reasons. These posters often described New Zealand as an island paradise
, complete with white sandy beach
es and coconut trees. This heavenly image also did a lot to attract settlers to New Zealand, as it was such a welcome contrast to the rain and cold weather in England. Many settlers also believed that the paradise New Zealand was presented as would be good for their families' health as the warm weather as well as the small population in New Zealand could keep dangerous diseases that were rife in England to a minimum in New Zealand.
Another factor in attracting people to New Zealand was families who had already settled writing to their relatives back in Great Britain telling them what a wonderful place New Zealand was. Sometimes these letters were sincere and people truly had discovered a much better life in New Zealand and wanted their relatives to share in the spoils, but sometimes there were other motives. Pure loneliness
and isolation
could encourage people to write exaggerated letters to their relatives in the hope that they would make New Zealand sound so good that their extended families would come and join them thus providing them with some comfort. There were also settlers who were too afraid to admit to their families back home that they had made a mistake in coming to New Zealand and so, to save face they chose to exaggerate the positive sides of living in New Zealand and keep quiet about the negative factors. This writing of letters by settlers back to their families in the United Kingdom resulted in what’s called a chain reaction as more and more people were encouraged to come out and join their families.
Pakeha
Pākehā is a Māori language word for New Zealanders who are "of European descent". They are mostly descended from British and to a lesser extent Irish settlers of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, although some Pākehā have Dutch, Scandinavian, German, Yugoslav or other ancestry...
settlers were Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an emigrants who journeyed to New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, and more specifically to Auckland
Auckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
, the Wellington
Wellington
Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...
/Hawkes Bay region, Canterbury
Canterbury, New Zealand
The New Zealand region of Canterbury is mainly composed of the Canterbury Plains and the surrounding mountains. Its main city, Christchurch, hosts the main office of the Christchurch City Council, the Canterbury Regional Council - called Environment Canterbury - and the University of Canterbury.-...
and Otago
Otago
Otago is a region of New Zealand in the south of the South Island. The region covers an area of approximately making it the country's second largest region. The population of Otago is...
during the 19th century. The ethnic and occupational social composition of these New Zealand Europeans or Pākehā varied from region to region.
Early Settlements
There was minimal immigrationImmigration
Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...
to New Zealand directly after 1769 when Captain James Cook discovered New Zealand. No significant immigration occurred until 1840. Before that date most migrants were sealers, whalers and missionaries with their families.
The New Zealand Company
Edward Gibbon WakefieldEdward Gibbon Wakefield
Edward Gibbon Wakefield was a British politician, the driving force behind much of the early colonisation of South Australia, and later New Zealand....
established the New Zealand Company
New Zealand Company
The New Zealand Company originated in London in 1837 as the New Zealand Association with the aim of promoting the "systematic" colonisation of New Zealand. The association, and later the company, intended to follow the colonising principles of Edward Gibbon Wakefield, who envisaged the creation of...
in 1839. This company was established to attract settler
Settler
A settler is a person who has migrated to an area and established permanent residence there, often to colonize the area. Settlers are generally people who take up residence on land and cultivate it, as opposed to nomads...
s from England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
to set up homes and farms in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. The objective of the company was to bring over a ‘slice of England.’ The company wanted a range of people from working class
Working class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
to upper class
Upper class
In social science, the "upper class" is the group of people at the top of a social hierarchy. Members of an upper class may have great power over the allocation of resources and governmental policy in their area.- Historical meaning :...
to establish a similar class system
Social structure of Britain
The social structure of the United Kingdom has historically been highly influenced by the concept of social class, with the concept still affecting British society in the early-21st century. Although definitions of social class in the United Kingdom vary and are highly controversial, most are...
in New Zealand as was in England. Settlers were offered paid passage and the possibility of eventually buying land at a price sufficient enough to attract them but also high enough to make them work manually for a few years to earn it. This principle was applied in many areas throughout New Zealand. Generally it worked and settlers began to arrive in droves.
Wellington
WellingtonWellington
Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...
was the first official settlement set up by The New Zealand Company
New Zealand Company
The New Zealand Company originated in London in 1837 as the New Zealand Association with the aim of promoting the "systematic" colonisation of New Zealand. The association, and later the company, intended to follow the colonising principles of Edward Gibbon Wakefield, who envisaged the creation of...
for recently arrived immigrants. The first settlers arrived at Petone
Petone
Petone is a major suburb of the city of Lower Hutt in New Zealand. It is located at the southern end of the narrow triangular plain of the Hutt River, on the northern shore of Wellington Harbour...
from England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
in 1840. At this point the majority of immigrants came from England, particularly London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. Most of those who arrived were timber
Timber
Timber may refer to:* Timber, a term common in the United Kingdom and Australia for wood materials * Timber, Oregon, an unincorporated community in the U.S...
workers, bullock
Cattle
Cattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...
drivers, shopkeepers
Retailing
Retail consists of the sale of physical goods or merchandise from a fixed location, such as a department store, boutique or kiosk, or by mail, in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser. Retailing may include subordinated services, such as delivery. Purchasers may be...
, rope
Rope
A rope is a length of fibres, twisted or braided together to improve strength for pulling and connecting. It has tensile strength but is too flexible to provide compressive strength...
makers and artisan
Artisan
An artisan is a skilled manual worker who makes items that may be functional or strictly decorative, including furniture, clothing, jewellery, household items, and tools...
s. This posed a problem as Wellington was an agricultural settlement but there were few people with the skills to farm the land. It was clear that neither the occupational or social composition of this early settlement was varied and as a result this assisted in giving Wellington a shaky beginning as a developing settlement.
Wanganui
WanganuiWanganui
Whanganui , also spelled Wanganui, is an urban area and district on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is part of the Manawatu-Wanganui region....
was the second Wakefield
Edward Gibbon Wakefield
Edward Gibbon Wakefield was a British politician, the driving force behind much of the early colonisation of South Australia, and later New Zealand....
settlement to be established although it was set up with some reluctance. Late 1840 Wellington settlers found that there was insufficient land available in their original settlement to satisfy their land claims and Colonel Wakefield was forced to offer them the option of land in the Wanganui settlement. This resulted in the social and occupational composition of Wanganui being much the same as Wellington. There was already a Māori population in Wanganui and they disputed the questionable land purchase by the New Zealand Company
New Zealand Company
The New Zealand Company originated in London in 1837 as the New Zealand Association with the aim of promoting the "systematic" colonisation of New Zealand. The association, and later the company, intended to follow the colonising principles of Edward Gibbon Wakefield, who envisaged the creation of...
. There was unrest between the Māori and Pākehā until 1848, when Donald Maclean, an assistant to the Native Protector, sorted out boundaries and land title by purchasing the area officially.
New Plymouth
New PlymouthNew Plymouth
New Plymouth is the major city of the Taranaki Region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after Plymouth, Devon, England, from where the first English settlers migrated....
was the following settlement to be established. Originally the development of the settlement was organised by The Plymouth Company but they merged with the New Zealand Company
New Zealand Company
The New Zealand Company originated in London in 1837 as the New Zealand Association with the aim of promoting the "systematic" colonisation of New Zealand. The association, and later the company, intended to follow the colonising principles of Edward Gibbon Wakefield, who envisaged the creation of...
in 1840, resulting in New Plymouth becoming the next Wakefield settlement. Workers were attracted from England by being offered jobs working on establishing roads in the New Plymouth area. This originally brought a large amount of settlers to the region but in 1843 it was no longer financially viable for the English company in charge of this arrangement to offer this opportunity. The company in England to reduce spending gave the local agent and as a result they ended the offer of employment provided by the company. Because of the lack of employment opportunities that this resulted in many settlers left new Plymouth choosing to move to Auckland
Auckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
or even Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
. This did leave more job opportunities for the remaining settlers and by the mid 1850s New Plymouth began to prosper; by that time it had a population of 2000. It had the resources to export wheat
Wheat
Wheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...
, barley
Barley
Barley is a major cereal grain, a member of the grass family. It serves as a major animal fodder, as a base malt for beer and certain distilled beverages, and as a component of various health foods...
and oat
Oat
The common oat is a species of cereal grain grown for its seed, which is known by the same name . While oats are suitable for human consumption as oatmeal and rolled oats, one of the most common uses is as livestock feed...
s to other settlements and the land was extremely cultivatable.
Otago
In 1842 The New Zealand CompanyNew Zealand Company
The New Zealand Company originated in London in 1837 as the New Zealand Association with the aim of promoting the "systematic" colonisation of New Zealand. The association, and later the company, intended to follow the colonising principles of Edward Gibbon Wakefield, who envisaged the creation of...
decided that they would establish a settlement for Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
Presbyterian immigrants. Fred Tuckett was employed to find the settlement and do the surveying. He settled on Otago
Otago
Otago is a region of New Zealand in the south of the South Island. The region covers an area of approximately making it the country's second largest region. The population of Otago is...
in the South Island
South Island
The South Island is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman Sea, to the south and east by the Pacific Ocean...
. Because of the isolation in Otago and the lack of previous development in the area, it was difficult to attract prospective farm owners. However the resident agent for The New Zealand Company who lived in the area was determined to get the scheme underway. A promotional campaign started up in Scotland and a public meeting in the Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
Trades Hall inspired people enough to warrant the use of two ships to transport the new settlers to New Zealand. It did take time to establish the settlement in Otago mainly because the majority of the Scottish settlers were only working class and relatively poor. This meant that occupation wise they did everything for themselves, unable to afford to employ labour. Once the settlement had got under way most settlers had succeeded in establishing themselves on farms and were making money from agricultural work.
The Canterbury Association
In 1848 The Canterbury AssociationCanterbury Association
The Canterbury Association was formed in order to establish a colony in what is now the Canterbury Region in the South Island of New Zealand.- Formation of the Association :...
was formed after a meeting between Edward Gibbon Wakefield
Edward Gibbon Wakefield
Edward Gibbon Wakefield was a British politician, the driving force behind much of the early colonisation of South Australia, and later New Zealand....
and businessman John Robert Godley
John Robert Godley
John Robert Godley was an Irish statesman and bureaucrat. Godley is considered to be the founder of Canterbury, New Zealand, although he lived there for only two years.-Early life:...
. The Canterbury Association had clear and simple plans. A block of one million acres (4,000 km²) was to be acquired from the New Zealand Company
New Zealand Company
The New Zealand Company originated in London in 1837 as the New Zealand Association with the aim of promoting the "systematic" colonisation of New Zealand. The association, and later the company, intended to follow the colonising principles of Edward Gibbon Wakefield, who envisaged the creation of...
and sold to intending immigrants at £3 per acre.’ (Century of Change, ). The Canterbury Association did not want to have the same problems that The New Zealand Company had with absentee ownership in their settlements. To combat this, the Association required land purchasers or their representatives to be present in the colony before they could buy land. Unfortunately land sales were disappointing and even after a campaign promoting the Canterbury settlement the first batch of settlers included 545 with assisted passages and only 40 paying the full price. Because there were so few people there was not a varied range of labourers available, the majority of settlers were farmers and as a result it took longer to get the settlement underway.
Auckland
AucklandAuckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
was an unplanned settlement, established solely by settlers themselves through migration and immigration to the area. By 1853 there were approximately 8000 people living in the Auckland area with a wide range of skills among them and with about 17000 acres (69 km²) in crops. Auckland was the closest in New Zealand to an agricultural settlement. Auckland established itself so well that Lt. Gov. Hobson
William Hobson
Captain William Hobson RN was the first Governor of New Zealand and co-author of the Treaty of Waitangi.-Early life:...
picked it out to become the new capital of New Zealand and as a result, the land was officially purchased from the Resident Māori in the area – the Ngāti Whātua
Ngati Whatua
Ngāti Whātua is a Māori iwi of New Zealand. It consists of four hapu : Te Uri-o-Hau, Te Roroa, Te Taoū, and Ngāti Whātua-o-Ōrākei....
.
Reasons for settlement
The voyage from England to New Zealand was long and arduous and often took over three months so settlers choosing to move to New Zealand had to have good incentives. One factor that attracted people to New Zealand was the fact that it was such a young country. It was not highly political like England, did not have a rigid class structure and, in their opinion, New Zealand provided equal opportunities for all new immigrants. This newness gave settlers a chance to start from scratch at the same level everybody else was starting and to many people who may have struggled financially in England, this was very attractive.Environment
Campaign posterPoster
A poster is any piece of printed paper designed to be attached to a wall or vertical surface. Typically posters include both textual and graphic elements, although a poster may be either wholly graphical or wholly text. Posters are designed to be both eye-catching and informative. Posters may be...
s advertising New Zealand in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
did give many settlers false hopes, manipulating their reasons. These posters often described New Zealand as an island paradise
Paradise
Paradise is a place in which existence is positive, harmonious and timeless. It is conceptually a counter-image of the miseries of human civilization, and in paradise there is only peace, prosperity, and happiness. Paradise is a place of contentment, but it is not necessarily a land of luxury and...
, complete with white sandy beach
Beach
A beach is a geological landform along the shoreline of an ocean, sea, lake or river. It usually consists of loose particles which are often composed of rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles or cobblestones...
es and coconut trees. This heavenly image also did a lot to attract settlers to New Zealand, as it was such a welcome contrast to the rain and cold weather in England. Many settlers also believed that the paradise New Zealand was presented as would be good for their families' health as the warm weather as well as the small population in New Zealand could keep dangerous diseases that were rife in England to a minimum in New Zealand.
Another factor in attracting people to New Zealand was families who had already settled writing to their relatives back in Great Britain telling them what a wonderful place New Zealand was. Sometimes these letters were sincere and people truly had discovered a much better life in New Zealand and wanted their relatives to share in the spoils, but sometimes there were other motives. Pure loneliness
Loneliness
Loneliness is an unpleasant feeling in which a person feels a strong sense of emptiness and solitude resulting from inadequate levels of social relationships. However, it is a subjective experience...
and isolation
Solitude
Solitude is a state of seclusion or isolation, i.e., lack of contact with people. It may stem from bad relationships, deliberate choice, infectious disease, mental disorders, neurological disorders or circumstances of employment or situation .Short-term solitude is often valued as a time when one...
could encourage people to write exaggerated letters to their relatives in the hope that they would make New Zealand sound so good that their extended families would come and join them thus providing them with some comfort. There were also settlers who were too afraid to admit to their families back home that they had made a mistake in coming to New Zealand and so, to save face they chose to exaggerate the positive sides of living in New Zealand and keep quiet about the negative factors. This writing of letters by settlers back to their families in the United Kingdom resulted in what’s called a chain reaction as more and more people were encouraged to come out and join their families.