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Story: Alcohol

Drunk and disorderly in Kaiapoi, 1872

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Drunk and disorderly in Kaiapoi, 1872

Colonial newspapers were full of accounts such as this, in which inebriated males were charged with being drunk and disorderly and creating public disturbances by fisticuffs or bad language. From 1855 to 1870 about 45% of all convictions were for drunkenness.

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National Library of New Zealand, Papers Past

Reference: Lyttelton Times, 27 April 1872, p. 3

Permission of the 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

Jock Phillips, Alcohol – Colonial drinking, 1800–1880, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/document/40667/drunk-and-disorderly-in-kaiapoi-1872 (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Jock Phillips, published 11 January 2013, updated 1 April 2016.