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Introduction
In 1865 my family immigrated from England to New Zealand. They were part of a huge wave of migration from the United Kingdom to New Zealand. They left England because of the big population growth around this time. My ancestors chose New Zealand because of the many opportunities that it offered. This inquiry looks at the push and pull factors that influenced my ancestors and many others to leave their homeland and move to the small island nation at the bottom of the South Pacific.
General Push Factors
One major push factor would be that there was a lot of poverty in England around the time of their migration, some signs of poverty in the 19th century including: Overcrowded housing, low wages, poor diet. They were also going through a smallpox pandemic, with everyone fearing for their lives. Back then they couldn't treat patients as well as the present because of: 1; Medicine was scarce and expensive, 2; Most hospitals were packed to the brim and 3; They didn't have the technology.
Sources: https://www.bl.uk/victorian-britain/articles/health-and-hygiene-in-the-19th-century
The Main Push Factor
The push factor that would most likely drive my ancestors to leave their country, would be that England was going through the Industrial Revolution. Since big factories were getting built, lots of people lost their jobs. I suspect that my ancestors lost their jobs as well. In England it was very hard to get a good paying job, it was very common to have a poor lifestyle in England because of this, and some people only made around $8 per week ($250 today.) A dozen eggs back then would be around 25 cents, A cord of wood $5. $8 Was just enough to get you the essentials in the 1860’s.
Sources: http://www.choosingvoluntarysimplicity.com/prices-for-1860-1872-1878-and-1882-groceries-provisions-dry-goods-more/
https://libraryguides.missouri.edu/pricesandwages/1860-1869
Discussion Of Push Factors
England wasn't a very good place to live around the 1860’s. There was a high crime rate and lots of disease outbreaks. A massive outbreak that had happened was the Cholera outbreak near Broad Street, the Cholera virus could kill after a few hours if left untreated. The most common crimes around this time were: Breaching the peace (Harassment,) drunkenness, and most common assault. Overall there were multiple different push factors that led to the migration of my family. Of these two push factors would be that the Industrial Revolution was pushing people out of their jobs.
Sources:
Pull Factor 1
A big reason my ancestors came to New Zealand was that we have a much higher employment rate than other countries, including England. In 1865 there were many jobs available in NZ because the country only had 60 thousand people living there. This made it very easy to get a job. An average wage in the 1860’s was $11! This was much more than England at the time. Today 11 dollars back then would be worth around 1,500 dollars! So, there was much more potential in New Zealand, but was this why they moved?
Sources: http://www.choosingvoluntarysimplicity.com/prices-for-1860-1872-1878-and-1882-groceries-provisions-dry-goods-more/
https://libraryguides.missouri.edu/pricesandwages/1860-1869
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1850_in_New_Zealand
Pull Factor 2
I think the main reason my ancestor migrated was because of the massive quantities of gold and obsidian. More than 10,000 people migrated to get a hold of this gold. Another rare ore was the Pounamu, the Pounamu was a very rare resource because it was only found in New Zealand, this meant people were selling it overseas for very expensive. The buyers of Pounamu loved selling it in their jewelry shops because it was not heard of. Pounamu back then could go for around $50/per kg overseas, especially in europe. $50 back then would be a whopping $1500.
Minerals were found in small clumps and were mined with simple equipment, but bigger deposits were mined with bigger equipment.
Sources:
https://www.nzpam.govt.nz/nz-industry/nz-minerals/history/
Discussion Of Pull Factors
New Zealand was a very good place to live in 1865. There was lots of unclaimed land, unclaimed ores, and best of all; a good economy. Of these two pull factors the main one would be the unclaimed ores because of how much there was, and how easy it was to create a company that has high success rates. Adding to that, there was an unheard of ore called Pounamu that Europeans loved to sell overseas. Overall there were many pull factors that led to my ancestors' migration.
Sources:
https://www.nzpam.govt.nz/nz-industry/nz-minerals/history/
Conclusion
All of these factors show how my ancestor migrated to New Zealand and left his life in England behind. My ancestors' migration was because of many reasons, including these push and pull factors. I am very grateful that my ancestors chose to come to New Zealand, I can't imagine myself living somewhere else.
Bibliography
“1850 in New Zealand.” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1850_in_New_Zealand. Accessed 2 March 2022.
“1860-1869 - Prices and Wages by Decade - Library Guides at University of Missouri Libraries.” Library Guides, https://libraryguides.missouri.edu/pricesandwages/1860-1869. Accessed 2 March 2022.
“History of minerals and coal.” New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals, 19 January 2017, https://www.nzpam.govt.nz/nz-industry/nz-minerals/history/. Accessed 2 March 2022.
“History of minerals and coal.” New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals, 19 January 2017, https://www.nzpam.govt.nz/nz-industry/nz-minerals/history/. Accessed 2 March 2022.
Picard, Liza. “Health and hygiene in the 19th century.” The British Library, 14 October 2009, https://www.bl.uk/victorian-britain/articles/health-and-hygiene-in-the-19th-century. Accessed 2 March 2022.
“Prices for 1860, 1872, 1878 and 1882 — Groceries, Provisions, Dry Goods & More.” Choosing Voluntary Simplicity, http://www.choosingvoluntarysimplicity.com/prices-for-1860-1872-1878-and-1882-groceries-provisions-dry-goods-more/. Accessed 2 March 2022.
Snow, John. “1854 Broad Street cholera outbreak.” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1854_Broad_Street_cholera_outbreak. Accessed 2 March 2022.