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Story: Farm families

Men’s quarters, 1885

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Men’s quarters, 1885

The large numbers of single males working on sheep stations in the South Island lived in men’s quarters. They slept on bunks and drank, told yarns or played cards among themselves. The engraving is from the Illustrated New Zealand News of 1885.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: PUBL-0110-1885-002

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.

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How to cite this page

Emma Dewson and Jock Phillips, Farm families – The colonial family – new conditions, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/artwork/19823/mens-quarters-1885 (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Emma Dewson and Jock Phillips, published 1 March 2009.