Why did settlers come to nz

Meanwhile, in the South Island settlements things were going very well. In the s, the government helped thousands of British people start a new life in New Zealand. Railways were built and towns sprang up or expanded. In , the first shipment of frozen meat from New Zealand made it successfully to England, proving that exporting chilled meat, butter and cheese was possible.

New Zealand became a key supplier to Britain. With an economy based on agriculture, much of the forest that originally covered New Zealand was cleared for farmland. In , New Zealand became the first country in the world to grant all women the right to vote. Not long after, New Zealand was the first country to offer state pensions and, in the late s, state housing for workers. It was the first war New Zealand soldiers were sent overseas to fight.

We became increasingly conscious of our own nationalism. In the late s, we turned down the chance to join the Australian Federation. Instead, New Zealand became an independent Dominion in The landing at Gallipoli in Turkey is regarded as a coming of age for our country. It is marked with increasingly well-attended ceremonies. To explain the history of the day and its significance to New Zealand today, WW has created brief guides translated into 3 languages. With most of our forces effectively stranded in Egypt and the Middle East, it was the United States that protected New Zealand against Japan during the war in the Pacific.

As a sign of friendship with the United States, New Zealand fought in Korea in the s and - against much popular opposition - in Vietnam in the s. Britain was an important and assured market for our farm products.

This was a blow to our trading community and to the country. Luckily, New Zealand had already begun diversifying its export trade.

We now sell our farm goods and many other exports to a wide range of countries. New Zealand has become a culturally diverse country. Particularly from the s, a wide range of ethnic groups have been encouraged to settle here and New Zealand is now much more multicultural. Sign up to receive relevant job opportunities from New Zealand employers and practical advice on how to make your move to New Zealand a reality.

Skip to main content Skip to navigation. Family friendly. A warm welcome. Compare New Zealand. Compare to: the UK. South Africa. Moving from the Pacific Islands. Moving with a Pacific Access Category visa.

Learning English. Community services. Bay of Plenty. Hawke's Bay. Whanganui - Manawatu. Nelson - Tasman. West Coast. Balanced lifestyle. Visa types. A few people were also arriving from France and America. Later, the British Government encouraged British families to come here. Many British families packed their bags and boarded ships to start a new life in a land they had never seen on the other side of the world. It took about six months to sail from Britain to Aotearoa and the voyage was often cold and uncomfortable.

Adults and children sometimes died in the cramped conditions of the sailing ships before they reached the shores of their new home. But they kept coming because they wanted a better life than they had in Britain. Many of them had been very poor and hungry in Britain.

Some good trading relationships developed. But it was a time of great change and confusion for everyone. Wainui Beach, Tairawhiti. By Tairawhiti Gisborne. Beautiful Wainui Beach in Gisborne is a place to catch waves and sunrises.

Enter Britain Captain James Cook, sent to Tahiti to observe the transit of Venus, was also tasked with the search for the great southern continent thought to exist in the southern seas. Early European settlers Prior to , it was mainly whalers, sealers, and missionaries who came to New Zealand.

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