Events In History
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6 September 1948New Zealand citizenship established
The British Nationality and New Zealand Citizenship Act 1948 (the order of the terms showed their relative importance) gave New Zealand citizenship to all current residents who had been either born British subjects or later naturalised. Read more...
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15 December 1944Poll tax on Chinese immigrants abolished
The Finance Act (No. 3) 1944 abolished the poll tax introduced in 1881, which was described by Minister of Finance Walter Nash as a 'blot on our legislation'. Read more...
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9 November 1920White New Zealand policy introduced
The Immigration Restriction Amendment Act 1920 required intending immigrants to apply for a permanent residence permit before they arrived in New Zealand. Read more...
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5 July 1881Poll tax imposed on Chinese
Parliament passed the Chinese Immigrants Act, which introduced a ‘poll tax’ of £10 (equivalent to nearly $1700 today) on Chinese migrants and restricted the number allowed to land from each ship arriving in New Zealand. Read more...
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18 November 1874Cospatrick fire kills 470
En route to Auckland laden with immigrants, the Cospatrick caught fire off the Cape of Good Hope. The tragedy has been described as New Zealand's worst civil disaster. Read more...
Articles
British & Irish immigration, 1840-1914
Who were the ancestors of Pākehā New Zealand? Where did they come from and what sort of people were they? These are some of the questions which this feature sets out to answer.
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Page 2 – Summary
This graph charts the immigrants from all countries who came to New Zealand from 1840 to 1914. This includes those who migrated from places such as Germany, Italy, Scandinavia
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Page 3 – Where did they come from?
The composition of the inflow from Britain and Ireland was quite different from the composition of the United Kingdom as a whole.
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Page 4 – The English
Table and graph showing which part of England immigrants to New Zealand came from.
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Page 5 – The Scots
Table and graph showing which part of Scotland immigrants to New Zealand came from.
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Page 6 – The Irish
Table and graph showing which part of Ireland immigrants to New Zealand came from.
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Page 7 – Where to?
British-born population living in New Zealand provinces in 1871.
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Page 8 – Who were the immigrants?
Graph of figures taken from the death certificates of British and Irish immigrants to New Zealand (which include information on the father's occupation).
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Page 9 – Conclusions
These statistics suggest some larger conclusions about the character and values of New Zealand's founding Pākehā population
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Page 10 – Further information
Further sources relating to British and Irish immigration to New Zealand, including pdfs of more detailed information and statistics
Assisted immigration, 1947-75
New Zealand is a country of immigrants. Wave after wave of peoples have settled here: Polynesian, British, European, Asian.
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Page 2 – Peopling New Zealand
The Labour Department was responsible for setting up and administering the assisted immigration scheme
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Page 3 – Leaving the grey UK
The Immigration Branch needed to advertise the assisted immigration scheme as widely as possible and mostly used the classified sections of British newspapers.
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Page 4 – The voyage out
The Captain Cook, along with the Captain Hobson, brought assisted immigrants to New Zealand via the Panama Canal from 1952.
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Page 5 – Life in New Zealand
After they arrived, each assisted immigrant was given a letter of welcome from Bert Bockett, the Secretary for Labour, which outlined the assistance which the Department would
The Vogel era
In 1870, Colonial Treasurer Julius Vogel launched the most ambitious development programme in New Zealand’s history. The ‘Vogel era’ was a decisive moment in New Zealand’s 19th-century transformation from a Māori world to a Pākehā one.
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Page 3 – Vogel's vision
In June 1870, Vogel unveiled the most ambitious public works and assisted-immigration programme in New Zealand’s history.
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Page 4 – Building Vogel's railways
Julius Vogel wasn’t the first colonial politician to promise to fund public works and immigration with borrowed money. But the early 1870s offered better prospects for success
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Page 5 – Vogel's legacy
After the initial enthusiasm of the 1870s, Julius Vogel’s reputation suffered in the 1880s when New Zealand’s economy slumped into a long depression that was triggered by an
Dominion status
On 26 September 1907 the colony of New Zealand ceased to exist. It became, instead, a dominion within the British Empire.
- Page 6 - New Zealand in 1907What was New Zealand like when it became a
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Main image: Quail Island
This island in Lyttelton Harbour has housed immigrants, lepers and Antarctic explorers.