To the land of milk and honey

Life was grim for many in Queen Victoria's Britain and a lot of people emigrated. Less than 2000 Pakeha lived in New Zealand when Victoria's reign began in 1837. By 1880 there were 500,000.

Many had come from Britain. They braved the cramped, damp and sometimes dangerous journey to the other side of the world. They didn't really know what their new country would be like so the long voyage was a bold step. This week's story is about two people from those times.

Rewind

So what was New Zealand like in the reign of Queen Victoria? Her 64 year reign - from 1837 to 1901 was longer than any previous monarch. Were the things below really happening in New Zealand during these years?

Just answer true or false and check your answers at the end of this week's TreasureLink.

1. Wellington is described as "a place of undulating plains suitable for the cultivation of grapevines, olives and wheat".
2. Some dodgy land deals are happening.
3. Most female immigrants are wives or daughters or domestic servants.
4. Places in New Zealand that already have names are given new ones.
5. New plants and animals are brought to New Zealand for the first time.

Word watch

All the words and phrases below are in this week's story. Choose the best meaning and then check your choices when you read this week's story. The answers are at the end of this week's TreasureLink

1. the bottom of the pecking order (a) the lowest status of all or (b) the one less likely to get picked on
2. bustling dock (a) a wharf with too many people on it or (b)  an exciting and noisy wharf
3. class distinctions (a) social ranks like upper class, middle class etc. (b) the different age groups like Year 5&6.
4. monotony (a) tedious sameness or (b) difficulty
5. bizarre situations (a) weird situations or (b) dangerous situations
6. vulnerable (a) always ready  or (b) at risk from
7. infectious diseases (a) diseases easily caught from others or (b) common but not serious diseases
8. perfunctorily (a) very quickly or (b) something done routinely without a great deal of care
9. enduring (a) putting up with or (b) long lasting
10. becalming (a) impossible to sail because of lack of wind or (b) running aground

Good for some

By the end of the 1800s Britain had become the wealthiest country in the world. Its colonies (places it ruled or governed in) were scattered over a quarter of the world's land surface. They included a quarter of the world's population. Some very rich people lived in Britain so why did so many leave?

Check out these reasons below with a classmate. What if you were a farm labourer, factory worker or miner? After reading each reason decide if you would leave or stay.

1. Farmers that had once owned a small plot of land had become tenants of landlords and were in trouble with their rents. These landlords were not necessarily good farmers so farms were poor. Leave or stay?
2. In the 1840s the wages of people like spinners, weavers, miners and iron workers were close to starvation level. Leave or stay?
3. Food was of very poor quality and there was very little of it. Leave or stay?
4. There were new farm inventions and discoveries but many small farmers couldn't afford them and couldn't read to find out about the new discoveries. They had to sell up and become labourers. Leave or stay?
5. Factories began to multiply and towns became huge. They couldn't cope with sewerage and drinking water and people were forced to live in cold, crowded and unhygienic rooms. Leave or stay?
6. England became the workshop of the world between 1850 and 1875 but the factories and coalmines were dark, harsh and unhealthy places and the wages remained low. Leave or stay?

So who went?

Now this is interesting. How could people with very little money afford the fare to get from Britain to New Zealand? Did only the rich people go?

Look here and try the activity to find out.

Early settlements

Some Pakeha had lived in New Zealand since the late 1700s. First came the sailors who had jumped ships from Sydney. Sealers lived here in the 1790s and they were followed by traders, whalers and missionaries. 

By 1830 about 200 Pakeha lived in New Zealand and in 1839 the first of the settler ships dropped anchor. By 1840, 2000 Pakeha had made New Zealand their home.

Why were these places chosen for settlement? Work out one reason for each place and then pair up with a classmate and compare your answers.  This map might help.

1839 Wellington
1840 Auckland
1840 Akaroa (That's on Banks Peninsula near Christchurch so it's not on the map above)
1840 Wanganui
1841 New Plymouth

Nelson was also settled in 1841 but Canterbury had to wait until 1850. Can you think why?

Off to the land of plenty

Read the first part of this week's story through to Joining the great migration.

New Zealand was the land of milk and honey for immigrants like William and Betsy. Think about Taranaki and what the settlers of the 1870s found when they got there.  Work out a consequence for each event. One example has been done for you.

Event: Maori have been growing crops successfully for years.
Consequence: The settlers know that the soil and the climate create excellent growing conditions.

1. A town has sprung up quickly. Consequence?
2. The basic foods can be bought in shops. Consequence?
3. Farms are partly developed. Some land has already been cleared and grass sown. Consequence?
4. Roads are being extended beyond the town. Consequence?
5. More people are arriving all the time. Consequence?
6. There are fish in the sea and birds in the forest. Consequence?

Compare your consequences with a classmate's.

Should we go or should we stay?

Immigration to New Zealand was full swing by the time Betsy and William made the big move. Ships were leaving all the time and competition was keen between the shipping lines.

Assisted migrants had their fares paid for and those that left from London reported to the New Zealand Immigration depot on the River Thames. A partition divided this hall into two rooms.

Each room had a whole lot of skinny bunks and everyone went to bed at 8.30 p.m. The "get out of bed" bell rang at 6am and everyone ate, scrubbed pots and found things to do until their ship was ready to leave. When that happened people moved quickly because more immigrants were ready to move in.

For most of these passengers it was the first time they had left their village so their eyes were wide when they boarded their ship.

Read Joining the great migration and then work out with a classmate what each of the people below probably said to Betsy and William before they left.

Great Aunt Gertrude: She wears a black hat. She always looks at the bad points and says why things won't work.

Uncle Cecil: He wears a yellow hat. He looks at all the good points and why the idea should work.

Dad: He wears a white hat. He likes to make sure people have plenty of information before they decide what to do.

Packing up!

William and Betsy were steerage passengers and were allowed one trunk of luggage. Now this doesn't seem much but steerage passengers were quite poor. They may not have owned much more than a trunk full of goods between them.

Besides clothing the immigrants had to take four pounds of marine soap that was meant to lather up in salt water. They needed blankets, sheets, a mattress, eating utensils and for women, two pounds of starch and a good sewing kit.

The bigger families may have struggled to fit all they wanted in their trunk. Try this interactive from Puke Ariki.

The Halcione

By 1870 the shipping companies were replacing wooden ships with iron. Betsy and William's ship was a fully rigged iron barque. Read the Halcione to find out what it was like for steerage passengers aboard a ship like this.

The journey to New Zealand still took more than three months. Records from ships of the time show these things:

1. It might take days for ships to lose sight of land.
2. At least 16 of the New Zealand ships collided with others in the English Channel between 1862 and 1882.
3. Ships often fought gales in the dreaded Bay of Biscay near Spain. This was after just one week of sailing.
4. The cramped dark quarters below deck stunk of sea sickness, putrid bilge water and wet bedding.
5. People argued and some fought.
6. Some people went mad and jumped overboard.

Which of these things might have been avoidable? Think pair and share your ideas with a classmate.

Pig overboard!

Betsy and William were steerage passengers so they shared the steerage area below decks. Wealthy immigrants had their own cabins and they were the ones that wrote daily diaries. That's why a lot of what we know about the immigrant ships comes from them.

Many steerage immigrants either couldn't or wouldn't write so William's notes are a bit unusual. We find out things from a steerage point of view.

Read A diary and decide if there are any parts of William's diary entry that wouldn't be written by a wealthy passenger with his own cabin.

Now try writing a short part of William's diary for the 31st May. Make it more optimistic than the entry on the 30th because William is feeling better about his journey. The storm has died away and the ship is making good time.

Here is the start but you finish it:
May 31. The skies are blue and a brisk breeze speeds us on our way. Below deck the stench is…

You've got fleas! 

William tells us that fleas and lice were a problem for steerage passengers. Read The haves and the have nots to find out why.

The different classes of Victorian Britain didn't mix. The "upper class" might speak to the "lower class" as servants but that is all. On board, the upper class- the first class passengers usually tried to keep to themselves:

-They had their own cabins and better food.
-Some blamed the steerage passengers for   the dirt and disease on board.
-On some ships the poop deck was kept for the upper class passengers. This was the stern area and all the first class cabins were under it.
-On some ships the water was rationed among the steerage passengers but the first class passengers drank it whenever they liked.

Decide which group is most likely to make each of the comments below-steerage or first class?

1. They have fleas you know because they don't like washing.
2. Even the sharks steer clear of that meat so why should we eat it?
3. The main deck is being scrubbed. We should go onto the poop deck.
4. Yes it is hot my dear but you must still wear your shoes and stockings.
5. Our cabin is very small my dear. I will ask the captain to move us.
6. There is little advantage in us paying extra if they are allowed on the poop deck.
7. I've asked my mate Tom Carpenter to repair that bunk.
8. That pig is fattening up well. We will enjoy meal of roast pork on Sunday.

Looking for something to do

Three months was a long time to be cooped up on board a ship. Read What to do for three months and find out what people did to keep themselves entertained.

People on the immigrant ships also fished, attended reading and writing classes, wrote in their diaries, cut their hair, washed their clothes and on a few ships published a newspaper.

What if you were on board an immigrant ship in those days? Work out some items to put in a time capsule. Each should give people today a good idea of how the early immigrants spent their time onboard.

I'm not well!

Illness hit the immigrants hard. Medical knowledge was primitive and although each ship carried a surgeon they were helpless when deadly diseases like diphtheria, measles and whooping cough swept through the ship.

65 children died on one voyage to New Zealand and most trips ended with several infant deaths. Read Burial at sea and find out how bad it got on the Halcione.

Gradually conditions improved.  Government inspectors kept a watchful eye on food, ventilation, cargo loading, passenger health and water quality.

Pair up with a classmate and make up one rule for each of the five things above that would help keep the ship healthy on its voyage to New Zealand.

A safe arrival

William and Betsy Ann arrived in New Plymouth in September 1875 and by that time the Taranaki Daily News had been around for 18 years. Read A safe arrival and decide which of the headlines below best describes the voyage.

Smooth sailing for Halcione -a ship to be proud of

Halcione drags anchor after troublesome voyage from the home country

Modern comforts welcomed by steerage passengers

Near disaster after eventful voyage but Halcione berths safely in Wellington

New home, new life 

Finish the story now and take special note of the letter William wrote back to his family.

Compare his life now with the one he left behind. Which things do you believe have changed for the better since William arrived in New Zealand?

This learning tool  will help you organise your thoughts.

Fast forward

Times have changed for new immigrants now. Check out the web and find out how.

Does New Zealand still want skilled migrants? Look here

Is it more difficult to immigate than in the 1870s? Look here

How long does it take to get to New Zealand now from Britain? Look here

Where do you stop off on the way? Look here

What do people do for entertainment now as they head to New Zealand? Look here

Rewind answers
1. True. This was all lies and simply a way to get people to emigrate. Once here it was difficult to turn around and go home.
2. True. The New Zealand Company for example tried to sell land they didn't even own.
3. True
4. True. The new immigrants named places after the names of people and places in Britain. Mountains, lakes and rivers were favourite targets.
5. False. Polynesian immigrants had already introduced the kiore and the kuri (dog) and ships rats had been scuttling ashore since Captain Cook's times. The new immigrants did bring animals and plants to remind them of home but they weren't the first.

Word watch answers
1a, 2b, 3a, 4a, 5a, 6b, 7a, 8b, 9a, 10a