Social Studies - Creative Writing

The Immigrants that traveled to New Zealand

In the 19th century Families and friends were going to the ports, for a long journey to New Zealand. Most from Europe opted for North America because It was a shorter and cheaper passage across the Atlantic. On the day people were leaving their home and loved ones, No one was in a talkative humor as they took one last long look at their homeland. When they were on the ships they had there entertainment and distractions. These were Sights of dolphins, flying fish, albatrosses, and whales. Cabin passengers at least, had books, chess, and cards. Quoits, a game using plaited rings, was played on the deck. Simple debates about the performance of plays.

The steerage was a low-ceilinged space beneath the main deck. Steerage passengers generally outnumbered those in the cabins by 10 to 1. They ate sheep, pigs and poultry were carried and killed periodically to provide fresh meat for the cabin passengers table, they also had fresh milk. When it came to cleaning them self, they had no fresh water and if they used the sea-salted water it wasn’t pleasant even if they used special soap.

The children were the ones that got sick and died as well. The infectious disease they got were; scarlet fever, diphtheria, whooping cough, and the measle. In the 1860s and 1870s, one in five of the infants below the age of one died on the voyage. The shepherd diet lacked supplies of preserved milk and was overloaded with starchy foods. The surgeon of a ship on witch 18 children died in 1874 declared more preserved milk and food containing protein, such as eggs, cheese, and beef tea, should be carried on ships with large numbers of children.

When they were moving to New Zealand they were manly British, There were also the French and the Germans. There were fewer than 100 French that settled in Akaroa in 1840. When the Germans arrived, they arrived in two shiploads in 1843-1844 and settled close to Nelson. A vast majority of the fares were paid by the New Zealand government company. The people on the ships were mostly of family. There were just as many women as men, and almost half of this group were children. Almost two-thirds came from three areas in southern England, the home counties of Kent and Sussex, the far South-West of Cornwall and Devon, and London itself. When they were leaving they went to the ports close to London and Plymouth from which ships set sail for New Zealand.

By Maddison .H.