European settlers in New Zealand
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European settlers in New Zealand, locally also known as Pākehā settlers, began arriving in the country in the early 19th century as
Early settlements
There was minimal
An early custom of European settlers was to use the native
The New Zealand Company
Wellington
Whanganui
New Plymouth
New Plymouth 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 number 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 oats to other settlements and the land was extremely cultivatable.
Otago
In 1842 the New Zealand Company decided that they would establish a settlement for
The Canterbury Association
In 1848 The Canterbury Association 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.
Auckland
Auckland was initially an unplanned settlement, established solely by settlers themselves through migration and immigration to the area. Land was easy to purchase from Māori as the isthmus had been fought over by many hapū for several generations during the musket wars and the native population had either been killed and eaten as at Panmure or fled or welcomed the protection afforded by large numbers of Europeans and their technology. The whole of Eastern Auckland was bought by William Fairburn after local Māori pleaded with him to buy the land to protect them from the feared Ngāpuhi invaders. After 1847 large numbers (over 2,500) of retired British soldiers called fencibles and their families came to Auckland and established new outlying settlements at Panmure, Howick, Ōtāhuhu and Onehunga. They were organised by Governor Grey and the force was called Royal New Zealand Fencible Corps. These formed a defensive ring against any possible Māori attack from the south. 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.
20th century
European settlers were still arriving well into the 20th century, with
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.
Environment
Campaign
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 of luring their extended families to join them thus providing them with some comfort. There were also settlers who were 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 a chain reaction as more and more people were encouraged to come out and join their families.
Land
Another factor in attracting people to New Zealand was undoubtedly the prospect of owning land. The New Zealand Company had purchased large amounts of land from local Māori, which they were willing to sell to settlers at a low price as a way of attracting them to New Zealand. The scheme worked, thousands of people who would have had no hope of owning land in the United Kingdom were given the opportunity to do so in New Zealand. Settlers found this attractive because they could farm it and make money from it as well as being able to keep it in the family for future generations. Few of the new settlers understood Māori.
Legacy
European customs
Early Pākehā settlers brought a range of European customs with them to what would become New Zealand. According to Christchurch newspaper
Pākehā guilt
In the 2004 essay "'Cultural vandalism' and Pākehā politics of guilt and responsibility", the concept of
References
- ^ Bronwyn Dalley and Gavin McLean, ed. (2005). Frontier of Dreams: The Story of New Zealand (1st ed.). New Zealand: Hodder Moa. pp. 69–70.
- ^ Paul Gay (27 June 2018). "New Zealand nightshade's potentially poisonous berry". The Southland Times.
- ^ John McCrone (10 February 2018). "A Pākehā's tale: Wide-eyed in the early days of the settlement of Canterbury". The Press.
- ISBN 978-0864735614.
- ^ Phillips, Jock (21 August 2013). "History of immigration – British immigration and the New Zealand Company". Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand.
- ISBN 978-0333416334.
- ^ Kyle Dalton (17 September 2019). "Sarjeant Gallery: Early settlers brought love of arts to Whanganui Pukenamu Queen's Park Reserve". The New Zealand Herald.
- ISBN 978-0864732859.
Tuberculosis remained the major cause of death among Pakeha settlers after 1900
- ISBN 978-1877241031.
- ^ John McCrone (9 September 2012). "The business of NZ Inc". The Press.
- ISBN 978-1877258961.
the objective of this chapter is to trace the ideological origins of this European concept of property rights
- ^ Claire Frances Gray (2012), White Privilege: Exploring the (in)visibility of Pakeha whiteness, University of Canterbury, p. 7,
In New Zealand, Bell (2004, 2006, 2009) demonstrated this approach as she examined the motivations of the dominant majority in relation to white guilt, settler identity and biculturalism. She concluded that without critical reflection, the words and actions of white people can sustain the continued dominance of the white majority through 'the avoidance of engagement and responsibility' (Bell, 2004, p. 90).
- ^ ISBN 9780170124799.
- ABC Online.
- ISBN 978-0739100684.
- ISBN 978-0822340546.