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Story: Children’s play

Young immigrant chess players, 1851

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Young immigrant chess players, 1851

Children watch two young chess players on the immigrant ship Duke of Portland, in 1851. Among settler families in New Zealand it was often the older children who passed on knowledge of traditional games to their younger siblings and friends. Many games from the immigrants' countries of origin became established in colonial New Zealand.

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Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: E-455-f-007-04

by John Pearse

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.

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How to cite this page

Peter Clayworth, Children’s play – Physical games, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/artwork/40850/young-immigrant-chess-players-1851 (accessed 24 June 2026).

Story by Peter Clayworth, published 13 February 2013.