Ancestry Inquiry
Ancestry Inquiry
John Benjamin Crampton
By Max Auld
Introduction
In June 1863 at the age of 17 my great great great grandfather, John Benjamin Crampton, left County Wicklow, Ireland and immigrated to New Zealand. This inquiry is focused on the push and pull factors of why John Benjamin left Ireland and immigrated to New Zealand and a bit of his story.
Biography
My ancestor John Benjamin Crampton was born in Baltinglass, County Wicklow, Ireland on the 19th of September 1845. Baltinglass is a small farming town on the westward side of the Wicklow mountains; it is about 60 kilometres to the heart of Dublin city. He immigrated to New Zealand with a massive wave of people coming from all over the world in June 1863 at the age of 17. There were massive steam ships that brought them over to New Zealand.
Push factor 1
John’s Dad, also called John Crampton, died of typhoid fever in June 1862, aged 53. Typhoid fever was killing many people in Ireland at that time. John Benjamin’s mother, Mary Anne, therefore had 6 children to look after in terrible living conditions, without her husband to support her.
Push factor 2
The living conditions in Ireland at the time were very poor, with lots of political issues and religious conflicts so lots of Irish people immigrated to many other countries. Life in Ireland at that time was very challenging. The law was very strict, the penalties were harsh and there was lots of rebellion and war. People were getting evicted, murdered and convicted for things they didn’t do.
Push factor 3
In 1845 there was a great famine that came through Ireland and killed many people. It was known as the great hunger or potato famine since the potato crop failed to grow from 1845 - 1852 and Irish people back in those days basically lived on potatoes. It was known as one of Ireland's greatest pandemics. It is estimated that roughly 1 million people died and 1 million people left the country, causing the Irish population to fall by 20-25%. Astonishingly in some towns falling almost as much as 70%.
Discussion of push factors
Lots of other Irish people also immigrated to New Zealand because of the great famine and fear of yet another one. County Wicklow was hit quite hard by the potato famine so I think that will be one of the main reasons John and his family moved to New Zealand. I think it would have been very hard to raise a family in these conditions. John was also born into the start of the famine.
I added another push factor because I felt there were three strong reasons why John and his family immigrated to New Zealand.
Pull Factor 1
John’s Uncle George and two of John's siblings were already in New Zealand. Uncle George owned a farm called Broomfield in Amberley, North Canterbury.
Pull factor 2
At the time when John and his family wanted to move to New Zealand there were many more opportunities including better living conditions, the possibility of a brighter future, freedom and safety. The South Island was rich in gold and pastoral farming which over the years attracted many thousands of settlers
Discussion of Pull Factors
Compared to Ireland, New Zealand was a young and fertile country and it sounded like a great place to immigrate to and since John’s Uncle and two siblings were already there it was the perfect place. John and his family moved to Amberley, North Canterbury.
Conclusion
In this Inquiry I’ve researched about my Great, Great, Great Grandfather John Benjamin Crampton and his migration to New Zealand in 1863. What I learnt about is the hardships he and his family were facing in Ireland including the famine, political and religious issues and most of all the tragic death of his father. This situation led to their decision to leave Ireland. His mother chose New Zealand because her brother and two of her older children were already there and there was a promise of a better living environment and new life for her family.
I am grateful that John Benjamin Crampton’s Mum chose New Zealand for if she didn’t I probably wouldn’t be alive and if I was, I would be a totally different person, living in a totally different country, speaking a different language.
Websites and Resources
My Great Aunty sent me a whole lot of information.
https://www.ancestry.com.au/genealogy/records/john-benjamin-crampton-24-1gsnh5h
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Famine_(Ireland)