"Ne'er-do-well" is a derogatory term for a good-for-nothing person; or a rogue, vagrant or vagabond without means of support. It is a contraction of the phrase never-do-well. [1]
The term ne'er-do-well was used in the nineteenth-century Australasian colonies to denote young British and Irish men seen as undesirable. These men were typically thought to be the younger sons of wealthy families who had somehow failed to fulfil their potential, so they were sent to the colonies to 'improve' themselves. Sometimes called 'remittance men' because they relied on payments from their families, other colonists held that these men typically spent this money on drinking and gambling, and feared they would be a threat to the natural order of society. [2]
Starting in the mid-nineteenth century, the term started to appear in migrant accounts, travel journals and reformist tracts. In 1851, George Hepburn wrote a diary throughout his voyage to Dunedin. He described the 'would be gentlemen' on board who drank constantly as 'scamps who acted the tomfoolery'. Some writers advised against these types of men from emigrating such as Charles Flinders Hursthouse who warned that the 'idle ne'er-do-well' should stay at home, because they were 'far above work, and far beneath it'. [3]
When, in 1873, the New Zealand Government introduced the Imbecile Passengers Act, [4] Colonial Secretary Daniel Pollen described this legislation as necessary due to the increasing numbers of 'half-scamps, half-lunatics' sent to the colony by friends and family. Pollen warned that this practice has led to the 'large proportion of lunatics' who needed costly maintenance in institutions. This appears to be a direct political response to the anxiety about the numbers of ne'er-do-wells arriving in New Zealand in this period. [5]
Rosalind Hursthouse is a British-born New Zealand moral philosopher noted for her work on virtue ethics. She is one of the leading exponents of contemporary virtue ethics, though she has also written extensively on philosophy of action, history of philosophy, moral psychology, and biomedical ethics. Hursthouse is Professor Emerita of Philosophy at the University of Auckland and Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand.
Hōne Wiremu Heke Pōkai, born Heke Pōkai and later often referred to as Hōne Heke, was a highly influential Māori rangatira (chief) of the Ngāpuhi iwi (tribe) and a war leader in northern New Zealand; he was affiliated with the Ngati Rahiri, Ngai Tawake, Ngati Tautahi, Te Matarahurahu and Te Uri-o-Hua hapū (subtribes) of Ngāpuhi. Hōne Heke fought with Hongi Hika, an earlier war leader of the Ngāpuhi, in the Musket Wars. Hōne Heke is considered the principal instigator of the Flagstaff War in 1845–46.
Capital punishment – the process of sentencing convicted offenders to death for the most serious crimes and carrying out that sentence, as ordered by a legal system – first appeared in New Zealand in a codified form when New Zealand became a British colony in 1840. It was first carried out with a public hanging in Victoria Street, Auckland in 1842, while the last execution occurred in 1957 at Mount Eden Prison, also in Auckland. In total, 85 people have been lawfully executed in New Zealand.
Daniel Pollen was a New Zealand politician who became the ninth premier of New Zealand, serving from 6 July 1875 to 15 February 1876.
Henry Williams was the leader of the Church Missionary Society (CMS) mission in New Zealand in the first half of the 19th century.
Migration to New Zealand began only very recently in human history, with Polynesian settlement in New Zealand, previously uninhabited, about 1250 CE to 1280 CE. European migration provided a major influx, especially following the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840. Subsequent immigrants have come chiefly from the British Isles, but also from continental Europe, the Pacific, the Americas and Asia.
Indian New Zealanders or informally known as Kiwi Indians are people of Indian origin or descent who live in New Zealand. The term includes Indians born in New Zealand, as well as immigrants from India, Fiji, other regions of Asia, parts of Africa such as South Africa and East Africa, and from other parts of the world. The term Indian New Zealander applies to any New Zealander with one or both parents of Indian heritage. Although sometimes the Indo-Kiwi definition has been expanded to people with mixed racial parentage with one Indian parent or grandparent, this can be controversial as it generally tends to remove the ethnic heritage or identity of the foreign parent or grandparent, which may be seen as insensitive to those with mixed parentage, who tend to value both their Indian and non-Indian parents and grandparents.
Octavius Hadfield was Archdeacon of Kāpiti, Bishop of Wellington from 1870 to 1893 and Primate of New Zealand from 1890 to 1893. He was a member of the Church Missionary Society (CMS) for thirty years. He was recognised as an authority on Māori customs and language. His views on Māori rights, expressed in several books strongly criticised the actions of the New Zealand Government. Hadfield married Catherine (Kate) Williams a daughter of the Rev. Henry Williams and Marianne Williams.
The following lists events that happened during 1876 in New Zealand.
1840 is considered a watershed year in the history of New Zealand: The Treaty of Waitangi is signed, British sovereignty over New Zealand is proclaimed, organised European settlement begins, and Auckland and Wellington are both founded.
Early New Zealand Books (ENZB) is a project from the library of the University of Auckland, New Zealand, launched in 2005, that aims at providing keyword-searchable text of significant books published about New Zealand in the first two-thirds of the nineteenth century. It also includes the subsequently published memoirs, journals and correspondence of people active in this era. The project has been funded and managed by the University of Auckland Library and for many years was freely available on the internet.
James Townsend was an English wine merchant, who in later life was a pioneer settler in New Zealand's South Island. He was also an amateur cricketer.
Walter Edward Gudgeon was a farmer, soldier, historian, land court judge, and colonial administrator.
Tītore, sometimes known as Tītore Tākiri, was a rangatira (chief) of the Ngāpuhi iwi (tribe). He was a war leader of the Ngāpuhi who led the war expedition against the Māori tribes at East Cape in 1820 and 1821. He also led the war expeditions to Tauranga and Maketu in 1832 and 1833, following the Girls' War incident at Kororāreka in the Bay of Islands.
Te Mahuki (c1840–1899) was a notable New Zealand tribal prophet who believed he was an Israelite sent to find the promised land. Of Māori descent, he identified with the Ngāti Kinohaku and Ngāti Maniapoto iwi. He was born in Te Kumi, King Country, New Zealand.
The New Zealand Banking Company was the first bank established in New Zealand, it operated from 1840 until being wound up in 1845.
Edward Marsh Williams was a missionary, interpreter, and judge who played a significant role in the British colonisation of New Zealand. He was born in Hampstead, Middlesex, the eldest son of Archdeacon Henry Williams and Marianne Williams.
Charlotte Jean Macdonald is a New Zealand historian. After studying as an undergraduate at Massey University, she earned her PhD from University of Auckland and is now a professor at Victoria University of Wellington.
The term Irish New Zealander refers to New Zealanders of full or partial Irish ancestry. This includes Irish immigrants as well as New Zealanders of Irish descent. The term makes no distinction concerning religion and encompasses both Catholic and Protestant immigrants and their descendants; nonetheless, the chief criterion of distinction between Irish immigrants, especially those who arrived in the nineteenth century, is religion.
Tohitapu also known as Tohi or Toi-Tapu was a rangatira (chief) of the Te Roroa iwi (tribe) of Northland, New Zealand, and a tohunga and Māori warrior. An account told by a Ngāpuhi informant to British ethnographer John White of the visit of Marion du Fresne to the Bay of Islands in 1772 describes Tohitapu as participating in the massacre when du Fresne and 26 men of his crew were killed and cannibalised.