Story: Chinese
In June 1853 Edward Gibbon Wakefield organised a meeting in Wellington. On the agenda was a scheme to bring in Chinese to work in occupations where labour was scarce, but strong opposition later forced Wakefield to abandon his plan. The minutes of the meeting (below) indicate that there was initially enthusiastic support for the idea.
‘The subject of opening a direct communication with
China for the purposes of commerce and the introduction
of Chinese labour into this colony, was fully considered,
and its importance to all classes acknowledged; when the
following gentlemen, –
Captain Rhodes,
Mr Clifford,
Mr Johnston,
And Mr Bowler,
declared their readiness to enter practically into the
undertaking, in such a manner as to afford a guarantee to
persons desirous of obtaining labourers, that such
labourers should be secured provided a guarantee were
given by applicants for servants that the cost of passage
for the same would be paid on their arrival in the
colony: and it was resolved,
1st That in order to settle the particulars of a plan for carrying the object into effect without delay, the above-named gentlemen will meet on Tuesday next at Captain Rhodes’s office, at 12 o’clock.
2ndly That the following gentlemen from Canterbury, –- Mr E. Jerningham Wakefield, Mr R. H. Rhodes, Mr Torlesse, and Mr Crosbie Ward, together with Mr Raymond and Mr Edward Gibbon Wakefield, be present on the occasion.’
About this item
Alexander Turnbull Library, Edward Gibbon Wakefield Papers
Reference: MS-Papers-2519
Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.
