Skip to main content

Story: English

'Phemie carrying the laundry'

Image
'Phemie carrying the laundry'

A high proportion of 19th-century women immigrants from England were domestic servants, who came because of high wages and the prospect of marriage. This watercolour by Frances Hodgkins, painted about 1890, depicts the family maid, Euphemia or Phemie.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: E-425-q-020

by Frances Hodgkins

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

All images & media in this story

How to cite this page

Terry Hearn, English – A profile of English immigrants, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/artwork/1941/phemie-carrying-the-laundry (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Terry Hearn, published 4 March 2009, updated 1 August 2024.