My ancestor
Johanna Johannesen
http://www.familyecho.com/?p=BOSZG&c=1u59r8u7po&f=906539617502833034 - The link to my family tree
Introduction:
In Norway 1873 my ancestors were part of a large migration to New zealand. Living conditions were tough and when an agent from overseas came and offered them free passage on a boat to New Zealand, said they would be given a chunk of land and would be paid well, all if they could come and work in the forest industry, they couldn't exactly refuse.
Who were they?
My ancestor Johanna Johannesen was seventeen when her family decided to move to New Zealand in 1873. She was one in a family of eight children, seven of which still lived at home. Her parents were Johan Johannesen and Randi Finnsdatter. These people would be moving to New Zealand along with four others. One was the eldest daughters husband (ole Olsen) and their two children,Anne and Arnie.The fourth person that was coming was named Christian Cristiansen(23), he was in time bound to be Johannas husband.This family was planning to travel to New Zealand and go to a place in Hawkes Bay called Norsewood. It was named Norsewood only after they arrived.There is also a street named after the boat they arrived on, the Hovding.
For Johanna moving to New Zealand would have been hard.All the time she had spent playing around the meadows and in forests when she was little, now she had to leave to some forign country no one had ever even heard of before.The farm they lived on in Norway was called Pastorpet,which after they left it hadn't been occupied ever since.
Norsewood↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑
Push factor one:
The Pastorpet family lived up against a forest in a very over populated area. There was very little farmable land and they were always under the constant threat of there being a famine and having no food to eat.
Push factor two:
Another reason for them leaving was the really bad poverty in the area. They had to move to a better place, because where they were, was far from the most pleasant place on earth and they knew there had to be a better place to go. Lots of people in the same situation were moving to other countries so the Pastorpet family decided to do the same.
Discussion of push factors:
To summarize the push factors in their decision I would say that it was a fair choice to move to a different country because as a farmer it's a bit hard to live properly when you have no land to farm, don't have any money and are always in fear of not being able to eat.
Pull factor one:
The main reason for them coming to New- Zealand was because of an agent that came looking for people to work in the forest industry. He naturally turned his eyes to the Odalen district which consisted of poorer people that were used to working in and around forests. So the Pastorpet family were offered the opportunity to live in New Zealand for basically nothing.
Pull factor two:
Even though this opportunity was one in a lifetime the decision to make it had to have more consideration. Because they were travelling into a faraway country that no one in the area had even heard of; for free, and were offered all these opportunities it seemed almost too good to be true. A lot of people from Norway were also migrating to America this wasn't an option for the Johannesens however because they couldn't afford to move to countries other than to New Zealand and only New Zealand because of the opportunity they got presented. Also America suffered an economic depression at the time and migrating to America wasn’t looking like a very popular decision, although a lot of people did eventually move to America when the situation stabilized and New Zealand's economy began to drop down.In The decision they made was really more pull than push factor. One thing they were told though was of New zealand's economics and wealth, which at the time were at the time greater than Norways and even though technically in Norway the life expectancy was higher than New Zealand's it probably didn't apply to the area where they lived due to the poverty.
THE
SS Hovding,of Tonsberg
The boat that took the Johannesens away had made two trips to New Zealand carrying emigrants. The first voyage took four hundred and eighty three passengers from Cristiana (Denmark) to New Zealand. For the second voyage they travelled to Norway and picked up369 passengers including the Pastorpet family to send them to New zealand.
The boat itself was made in a place called Tonsburg which contributed to the name of the vessel. Officially launched in1867 it was a well known and considered famous boat. It was new technology and was very fast at the time, it held the record for crossing the Atlantic between countries Canada and England.
No one knows where it eventually ended but there are unlikely rumours that it got blown up by chinese bombs in world war two.These rumours are unlikely because it wouldn’t have had anything to do with the war and the story probably involved another ship with same name.
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↑ SS Hovding, of Tonsberg ↑
Conclusion:
In 1873 a boat full of people entered New Zealand for the first time, weary and not knowing what to expect.All were headed to New Zealand for various reasons but mainly because it was cheap, not too populated and had better economy than most other countries. Fortunately among these people were my ancestors emigrating from Norway. They moved from Norway mainly because of over population and poor farming conditions.They moved to New Zealand due to the finer living conditions and the really good jobs they got offered.
Over seven generations ago my Ancestors and others arrived in Hawkes bay ready and willing to start a new life in New- Zealand.
Bibliography:⇩
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http://norsewoodheritage.co.nz/
Gapminder, gapminder.com/.
Andresen, Øystein Molstad, et al. Johanna's World. Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind, 2009.
Cindy mquade(my mum)