They leave County Tyrone, Ireland, for Gravesend, London.
New Zealand HistoryPassenger Arrivals 1838 - 1889Emigration from the United Kingdom from 1815 - 1870. USA Australia & New ZealandWhere did they come from?
New Zealand is a country of immigrants. Wave after wave of peoples have settled here: Polynesian, British, European, Asian. From 1840 until the 1970s, Britain was the main source for immigrants. There were historical and political grounds for this New Zealand was first a British colony and later a Dominion but also cultural and economic reasons. But who were the ancestors of Pakeha New Zealanders? Where did they come from and what sort of people were they? What led them to travel so far, enduring the discomfort and danger of long sea voyages, often in small sailing ships? The origins of Pakeha and in part New Zealand identity, by looking at who actually migrated to New Zealand in the seven decades prior to the First World War. Read more......
1853 - 1870: gold boom and war.During this period the non-Maori population of New Zealand increased from about 20,000 to over 250,000. It was a period of provincial government and the provinces made a substantial contribution to migration from Britain and Ireland by providing assistance with fares, and in the case of Auckland by land grants of 40 acres. Another major contributor was the lure of gold following the discoveries in Otago in 1861 and Westland in 1865. 1863 saw a gross migration to New Zealand of 45,730 people, the largest annual figure in New Zealand's history. Many of these people flowed across the Tasman, especially from the Victorian gold fields. War between the settlers and the Maori again provided a reason for settlement. Following the renewed outbreak of fighting in 1861, a number of imperial regiments came to New Zealand and eventually over 2000 men took their discharge in the colony. In addition there were over 6000 military settlers in the Auckland area. Finally there were also significant special settlements, the most famous of which were the Highland Scots who came to Waipu in Northland from 1853 after some forty years in Nova Scotia. In all about 800 people had migrated to Waipu by 1860. 65 percent of Irish had a background in farming.