Skip to main content

Story: Rural language

‘An English landscape’

Image
‘An English landscape’

The pastoral landscape of England, familiar to many 19th-century New Zealand settlers, is depicted in an oil painting by Henry Milbourne. New Zealand’s rugged tussock- and bush-covered topography was a complete contrast, and new words were needed to describe it.

Using this item

Auckland Art Gallery – Toi o Tāmaki

by Henry Milbourne

Permission of Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

All images & media in this story

How to cite this page

Dianne Bardsley, Rural language – The evolution of rural language, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/artwork/18581/an-english-landscape (accessed 10 June 2026).

Story by Dianne Bardsley, published 1 March 2009.