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Story: Rural workers

Hand shearers

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Hand shearers

A gang of shearers hand-shear sheep at Waverley, Taranaki, in 1906. The shears put a lot of strain on hands. They were made of steel and naturally fell open – the shearer had to repeatedly squeeze the shears to bring the blades together.

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Whanganui Regional Museum

Reference: B/AGG/84

Permission of the Whanganui Regional Museum must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Carl Walrond, Rural workers – Itinerant workers, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/17201/hand-shearers (accessed 24 June 2026).

Story by Carl Walrond, published 1 March 2009.