Overview
A small number of the women who immigrated to New Zealand in the nineteenth century were from wealthy families, and did not need to work to live. Some of them, like Mary Taylor, did work once they got here, but only because they wanted to.
The vast majority of women who arrived were from the labouring classes. Many were escaping the rural or semi-rural areas of Britain where life was becoming increasingly tough for them.
The rural labourer’s lot had once been a fairly good one in Britain. Although most of the land there was owned by the gentry, rented by farmers, and worked by landless labourers, every village also had common land, where labourers could graze their animals. But then this common land began to be enclosed for cultivation, and the labourers lost the small amount of economic independence it had given them. They became almost completely dependent on the landowners for money and housing.
Sometimes women worked at home in what were known as cottage industries, making handcrafts to sell. The extra money that this brought in could make all the difference to whether they, or their family could make ends meet. Different parts of Britain became known for their own cottage industries. For example, Oxfordshire was renowned for gloves, and Bedfordshire for lace-making. However, the industrial revolution spelt doom for cottage industries; machines could do the work of craftspeople more quickly and cheaply.
For many working women, the demise of the cottage industry meant that they had either to get a job in a factory or go into domestic service. Or there was another option – they could emigrate to a colony like New Zealand where, they hoped, they would be able to start a new life for themselves, earn more, live in better conditions, and perhaps even improve their social position. The British government especially encouraged single women to emigrate, as the colonies were so full of single men.
In the early years of colonisation there were few manufacturing industries. Once they arrived, most unmarried women went into domestic service. Wages were not high, but food and lodging were free. And as there was plenty of demand for their services, many domestics found that they had more bargaining power here than they had in England. This was to the dismay of some members of the wealthy classes, who complained about the ‘uppity servant problem’.
As towns grew, more shop and factory work became available, and for a lot of women this was preferable. In these workplaces they could mix with people like themselves, and there was the possibility of advancement. Also, although the hours were long, they were defined. Once these women left work for the day, their time was their own. Women in domestic service , on the other hand, were often expected to be at the beck and call of the family they lived with, right around the clock.
In late 1870s, the New Zealand economy become depressed, and people grew worried that Britain’s industrial problems were going to be duplicated in the colony. The appearance of a few 'sweatshops' increased this fear: contractors working for large clothing firms gave out materials for machinists – mostly women – to make into garments at home. Outwork at piece rates was wide open to exploitation. Working separately in their own homes, the machinists could not organise themselves to fight poor conditions or wages.
By the end of the nineteenth century for some workers, life in New Zealand was little better than it had been in Britain. However, individual experience varied widely, and others found themselves socially and economically better off than they ever would ever have been back home. For those lucky ones, the reality had indeed measured up to their dreams.
Text originally published in Tai Awatea, Te Papa's onfloor multimedia database (1998).