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Story: New Zealand identity

Emigration poster

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Emigration poster

In the 1850s Auckland province offered 40 acres (16 hectares) for any immigrant to the province who was likely to become a 'useful colonist', plus another 20 acres (8 hectares) for any child aged five to 18. Such immigration advertising helped to establish the idea that New Zealand was a pastoral paradise where there was abundant fertile land for farming.

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Auckland Council Libraries − Tāmaki Pātaka Kōrero o Tāmaki Makaurau, Sir George Grey Special Collections

Reference: 7-C2024

Permission of Auckland City Libraries Tāmaki Pātaka Kōrero must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Fiona Barker, New Zealand identity – The land, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/ephemera/34600/emigration-poster (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Fiona Barker, published 17 April 2012.