Irish Migration to the West Coast, 1864-1900 - New Zealand Journal ...

LYNDON FRASER
51 May, The West Coast Gold Rushes, p.285.
52 Fraser, To Tara via Holyhead, pp.32^9.
53 O'Farrell, The Irish in Australia, pp.85-88.
54 Raewyn Dalziel, The Origins of New Zealand Diplomacy: The Agent-General in London,
1870-1905, Wellington, 1975, ch.3.
55 The same point is made in an Australian context by Robin Haines, Emigration and the
Labouring Poor, p.20.
56 Im 10/4, National Archives (NA), Wellington.
57 Similar patterns of sponsorship are evident in mid-nineteenth-century Victoria. See David
Fitzpatrick, 'Emigration, 1801-70', in Vaughan, ed., A New History of Ireland, pp.602-3.
58 For example, J.A. Bonar to Minister for Immigration, 22 January 1876, Im 3/1, NA. The
proportion of single women nominated in Westland closely match the percentages recorded in
Victoria. See Fitzpatrick, in Vaughan, ed., A New History of Ireland, Table 9, p.616.
59 The phrase is from Fitzpatrick, Oceans of Consolation, p.12.
60 Mary Neylon to Under Secretary, 6 February 1873, Im 3/1, NA.
61 Henry Ellis to Under Secretary, 23 October 1874, Im 3/1, NA. See also James Wylde to
Under Secretary, 24 October 1874, and Henry Ellis to Under Secretary, 19 September 1874, Im 3/
1, NA.
62 Im 10/4, NA.
63 Edward Duffy to Immigration Officer, 26 September 1871, Im 1/1, NA.
64 James Wylde to Under Secretary, 24 November 1873, Im 3/1, NA.
65 Charles Elliot to Under Secretary, 1 December 1875, Im 3/1, NA.
66 Ellen Connell to Immigration Officer (Nelson), 23 December 1875, Im 3/1, NA.
67 See also, Sub-immigration Officer (Westport) to Immigration Officer (Nelson) 13 January
and 14 January 1876, Im 3/1, NA.
68 I have argued elsewhere that wills are an invaluable historical source and constitute one view
of the system of social relations enacted in the past. See Fraser, To Tara via Holyhead, ch.6.
69 This analysis is based on a total of 265 probate files held at National Archives, Christchurch.
Of these documents, 214 were left by male testators (80.8%), while the remaining 51 belonged to
women (19.2%). The marital status of will-makers was as follows: 105 married men (39.6%), 88
unmarried men (33.2%), 22 widowers (8.3%), 12 married women (4.5%), 4 single women (1.5%),
and 34 widows (12.8%).
70 Twenty-one widows named Irish executors in their wills (61.85%) and another nine entrusted
their immediate kinsfolk alone (26.5%). Similarly, almost three-fifths of widowers chose to appoint
compatriots (59.1%), with about one-quarter relying solely on kinship ties (27.3%).
71 Will of Bridget Houlahan, HK 329/1888, National Archives, Christchurch (NA-CH).
72 Will of James Jones, HK 1015/1902, NA-CH.
73 Sixty-six testators transferred the residuary interest in their estates to their spouses absolutely
(62.9%), while another 15 bequeathed most of their property to their wives (14.3%). Twenty-two
wills created life-interests in an estate (21%) and two documents completely excluded the claims of
widows (1.9%).
74 See Fraser, '"The Ties That Bind'", pp.71-73. About one-quarter of all West Coast Irish
Catholic testators excluded their wives as executors (28%), but nearly two-thirds (65.3%) entrusted
spouses with an absolute residuary interest in their estates (N=75). The corresponding percentages
for Christchurch were 42.1% and 37.2% respectively.
75 A further 25 probates contained bequests to churches, charities or parish priests (28.4%).
Only one non-Catholic will contained any disposition of this nature. John Tyrrell, a Dublin-born
Anglican printer, bequeathed £5 per annum to an Irish orphanage, £70 to local churches, and a sum
of £600 in trust 'for the establishment of a Home to be erected in Westport for the succor relief and
comfort of the aged and needy of all or any denomination or creed'. See Will of John Tyrrell, WP 7/
92, NA-CH.
76 Will of James Quillinan, RN 140/1902 and HK 1014/1902, NA-CH.
77 Will of Thomas O'Rourke, HK 1015/1902, NA-CH.
78 Will of Richard Purdon Bayley, GM 77/1883 and HK 219/1883, NA-CH.
79 This sample comprises 119 intestacy cases from the period 1865-1910 held at National
Archives, Christchurch. Of these, 97 files involved the estates of males (81.5%), while 22 belonged
to women (18.5%). The marital status of intestates were as follows: 46 married men (38.7%), 44
unmarried men (37.0%), 7 widowers (5.9%), 7 married women (5.9%), 2 single women (1.7%),
and 13 widows (10.9%).
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