Story: Immigration regulation

Chinese gold miners

Chinese gold miners

By 1869 there were about 2,000 Chinese people in New Zealand. Almost all were men who came to work the goldfields of Otago and the West Coast. Most of them probably intended to make their fortunes and return to China. An 1871 report dismissed popular allegations against the Chinese, but pressure mounted to exclude further arrivals. Formal restrictions on Chinese immigrants were imposed in 1881. On the goldfields, the Chinese mostly kept to themselves, living in small ‘Chinatowns’. Some ran their own businesses rather than searching for gold. A Chinese man ran this hotel at Round Hill in Southland.

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Southland Museum and Art Gallery

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How to cite this page:

Ann Beaglehole, 'Immigration regulation - 1881–1914: restrictions on Chinese and others', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/photograph/1365/chinese-gold-miners (accessed 29 March 2024)

Story by Ann Beaglehole, published 8 Feb 2005, updated 1 Aug 2015