Although there was a clear social hierarchy in colonial cities, the fine distinctions of the old world tended to blur. For example, as this cartoon from the Observer of 1895 suggests, domestic servants were rather less submissive than was the custom in Britain.
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
National Library of New Zealand, Papers Past
Reference:
Observer, 18 May 1895, p. 16
Permission of the National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.
Tāpiritia te tākupu hou