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Kōrero: Ethnic and religious intolerance

Defending the Irish

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Defending the Irish

In October 1857 it was learned that the Superintendent of Wellington province, Isaac Featherston, had asked the province's recruiting agents in Great Britain to exclude Irish people from assisted passages to Wellington. This was probably because the Irish were regarded as ill-educated, inclined to heavy drinking, and likely to be Catholic. However, Featherston's instructions were not well-received by some residents of Wellington, who organised a protest meeting and issued this leaflet.

Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi

Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: Eph-B-IMMIGRATION-1857-01

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.

Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārang

Paul Spoonley, Ethnic and religious intolerance – Intolerance towards European immigrants, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/ephemera/28168/defending-the-irish (accessed 25 June 2026).

He kōrero nā Paul Spoonley, i tāngia i te 17 February 2011.