From Scotland to New Zealand: The Early Auckland Settlers

Nov 6, 2011
Brian Cross

The Jane Gifford - Painting by Unknown

For many working class families of 1840's Scotland, resettlement in New Zealand offered the promise of a better way of life.

In June 1842, two small ships departed Greenock on a voyage to the other side of the world. They were packed with emigrants from the Scottish lowlands – tradesmen, labourers and former crofters bravely taking their families to a new life in a new land. Four months later, the Jane Gifford and Duchess of Argyle dropped anchor in the Waitemata Harbour, delivering the first organised groups of immigrants to the fledgling trading settlement of Auckland

The Impact of Scottish Industrialisation

For the working classes of late 1830’s Scotland, times were tough. Britain’s industrial revolution had spread north and brought with it a new level of commercial activity. The structural changes to Scottish society that came with economic growth would, however, disadvantage many workers and their families. The local economy was expanding rapidly, but the capital it created was increasingly held in the hands of a few.

In the Scottish countryside, improvements in agricultural methods meant displacement for the crofters whose families had worked the land for centuries. As elsewhere in Britain, rapid urbanisation was taking place as rural folk moved to the cities in search of work in the factories and mills. Technology was advancing at a great rate, and wages were being driven down. New economic cycles were emerging - with each boom would come a period of downturn, when workers were laid off, their skills no longer needed in an increasingly competitive marketplace.

Assisted Emigration from Scotland

As this period of unemployment grew in Scotland, emigration policy formed a major part of the government response. Already, thousands of Scottish people had sailed west to the new lands of opportunity across the Atlantic. These were mostly private ventures – unassisted passages that only those with money could afford. For the less fortunate to be included, government action was required.

By the mid-1830’s, the colonies of Australia were calling out for labour from the home countries. Private migration from Scotland to Australia was not unknown, but incentives were needed to encourage emigration to that land so far away. Supported by the Church of Scotland, the government introduced assistance programmes, with the effect that Scottish emigration to Australia grew from barely 100 people in 1836 to peak at over 4,000 in 1841.

Now, New Zealand was also within reach.

Skill Shortages in the New Colonies

To fill the ships with emigrants, government and church sought out whole families from all over Scotland. Foremost among those early emigrants to New Zealand were lowlanders, particularly tradesmen and artisans – men who had the skills to construct the houses, shops and vehicles, the port facilities, roads and bridges that the new settlements desperately needed.

While men with building trades and their families formed the majority of the Jane Gifford and Duchess of Argyle passenger lists, doctors, nurses and teachers were also encouraged to join the adventure. Their skills would be put to use long before the ships reached Auckland, as the children continued their education, babies were born, and the inevitable deaths occurred along the way.

Leaving the Clyde Bound for New Zealand

The Jane Gifford was first to weigh anchor from her position on the Tail of the Bank, from where she moved down the Clyde to begin the great journey south. Ten days later, the Duchess of Argyle followed. By sheer chance, the ships would converge months later in the shadow of Auckland's North Head, to both arrive in port on 9 October 1842.

Relieved that the long journey was finally over, some 514 pioneering immigrants looked out from their Mechanics Bay anchorage on the volcanic isthmus they would now call home. Before them was Parnell Rise, where 30 raupo huts had been erected for their accommodation. It must have been with many mixed feelings that these men, women and children pondered their futures, just about as far as they could possibly get from those they had left behind.

A New Life in Auckland

The arrival of the first immigrant ships was a boost for the Auckland business community. For the new arrivals however, work was hard to find. Many had no option but to labour on improving the muddy tracks that were Auckland's streets. Eventually the opportunities came, family routines fell into place and a young and growing society gained added strength. A number of those who travelled aboard the Jane Gifford and the Duchess of Argyle would soon become leaders of Auckland's commercial and public life.