TRANSPLANTED IRISH INSTITUTIONS - University of Canterbury

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employers demanded more labourers but were not happy with the quality of the immigrants
who came. 21
The important legislation for immigrants coming to New Zealand was the
Immigration and Public Works Act passed in September 1870. This Act had two features
that were relevant to the Irish.
Firstly, because there were an excess number of males
arriving in New Zealand, the government offered free passage for single women. Secondly,
the Act used a system of nominated immigration which effectively meant that colonists
could bring out friends and relatives. 22 Nomination was favoured by the Irish in general
because they were eager to escape the widespread economic poverty in Ireland.
During this 'Vogel period' the Irish made their most notable impression on New
Zealand as a proportion of the total population. (See Table 2).
Table 2- The Irish-born Population of New Zealand, 1861-1911.
Year No. % of N .Z. Pop.
1861 8831 8.9
1871 29,733 11.6
1881 49,363 10.1
1891 47,634 7.6
1901 43,524 5.6
1911 40,958 4.1
Source: New Zealand censuses, 1861 - 1911.
This period of heavy immigration was dominated by the influx of young Irish males.
''They worked hard in mines, in clearing bush, on the roads, and when they came to town
they drank hard and scared people. And that is the picture of the Irish that became fixed in
the popular mind. oo23
These young Irish males tended to either leave New Zealand or get
married and settle down. By 1890, there was a sharp decline in Irish immigration to New
Zealand. This was attributable to the abolition of the assistance schemes in 1890.
New
Zealand was distant from Ireland which meant that the passage was expensive. It was no
longer a favourable destination because the Irish were generally poorer than the other
21Richard P. Davis, Irish Issues in New Zealand Politics 1868-1922, Dunedin, University of Otago
Press, 1974, p. 25.
22Ibid., pp. 26-27.
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230p. cit., Akenson, Half the World from Home, p. 53 .