Story: History of immigration

Wages for domestic servants

Wages for domestic servants

In the 1850s and 1860s a number of provinces ran schemes offering free or assisted passages for immigrants from Britain and Ireland. Single women were especially preferred, to become wives or domestic servants for the settlers. This wage book records the amounts paid to Bessie Butler and Grace Lowry by the respectable Christchurch woman Jane Anne Moorhouse. She was the wife of William Moorhouse, former superintendent of Canterbury province.

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Alexander Turnbull Library
Reference: MS-1666

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How to cite this page:

Jock Phillips, 'History of immigration - Settlement in the provinces: 1853 to 1870', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/document/2103/wages-for-domestic-servants (accessed 29 March 2024)

Story by Jock Phillips, published 8 Feb 2005, updated 1 Aug 2015