File:Petition from the Working Men of Nelson (11841523746).jpg
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Colonial New Zealand has sometimes been referred to as a 'Workingman's Paradise.' While many settlers did escape the extremes of industrial Britain, many found in New Zealand what they were hoping to leave behind. Problems with the Pākehā settlement of Nelson by the New Zealand Company caused many issues for workers. Class relations were deliberately transplanted to Nelson by the Company - in 1842 four ships carried 60 cabin passengers and nearly 800 labourers, while two-thirds of Nelson land-owners were absentee (remaining back in Britain). This led to under cultivation and unemployment, and for months workers and their families had to survive on meagre aid from the Company. As Bill Sutch notes, many lived on fern roots, native berries, and potatoes (when they were available). On 14 January 1843 this petition by 'The Working Men of Nelson' was sent to Captain Arthur Wakefield, the brother of Edward Gibbon Wakefield and the Company's agent in Nelson. "You sir are well aware that we have been seduced from our fatherland our homes and friends by the flattering pretensions of the New Zealand Company," began the petition. Arguing they had come to New Zealand as "honourable and Industrious men wishing only to live by our own industry and to produce a comfortable maintenance for ourselves and our family's," they wanted Wakefield to look into their situation and improve the Company's rations. "If you refuse to stand by the working men of Nelson you sign its Death warrant & seal its doom as a colony." The workers' predictions almost came true when the Company stopped paying relief in 1844. Facing starvation and the swearing in of special constables at the request of landowners, the workers remained calm. Some squatted on Company reserves, and in the end the Company allowed settlers to lease or buy small allotments of land from the absentee landowners. Archives Reference: NZC208 Box 1/ 2/2 www.archway.archives.govt.nz/ViewFullItem.do?code=15417465 For updates on our On This Day series and news from Archives New Zealand, follow us on Twitter twitter.com/ArchivesNZ Material from Archives New Zealand |
| Date | |
| Source | Petition from the Working Men of Nelson |
| Author | Archives New Zealand from New Zealand |
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This image was originally posted to Flickr by Archives New Zealand at https://flickr.com/photos/35759981@N08/11841523746. It was reviewed on 8 September 2016 by FlickreviewR and was confirmed to be licensed under the terms of the cc-by-sa-2.0. |
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| current | 21:39, 8 September 2016 | | 3,879 × 2,070 (5.11 MB) | Vanished Account Byeznhpyxeuztibuo (talk | contribs) | Transferred from Flickr via Flickr2Commons |
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