European New Zealanders


European New Zealanders are New Zealanders of European descent. Most European New Zealanders are of British and Irish ancestry, with smaller percentages of other European ancestries such as Germans, Greeks, Poles, French, Dutch, Scandinavians, Croats and other South Slavs. The term European New Zealander encompasses white people who are of indirect European descent, including Americans, Canadians, South Africans and Australians.
Statistics New Zealand maintains the national classification standard for ethnicity. European is one of the six top-level ethnic groups, alongside Māori, Pacific Peoples, Asian, Middle Eastern/Latin American/African, and Other. Within the top-level European group are two second-level ethnic groups, New Zealand European and Other European. New Zealand European consists of New Zealanders of European descent, while Other European consists of migrant European ethnic groups. The term European New Zealander is therefore ambiguous, as it can refer to either the top-level European ethnic group or to the second-level New Zealand European group.
At the 2018 Census, 3,372,708 people identified as European, with 3,013,440 people identifying as New Zealand European.
The Māori-language term Pākehā is often used as a synonym for European New Zealander.

History

Cook claimed New Zealand for Britain on his arrival in 1769. The establishment of British colonies in Australia from 1788 and the boom in whaling and sealing in the Southern Ocean brought many Europeans to the vicinity of New Zealand. Whalers and sealers were often itinerant and the first real settlers were missionaries and traders in the Bay of Islands area from 1809. Some of the early visitors stayed and lived with Māori tribes as Pākehā Māori. Often whalers and traders married Māori women of high status which served to cement trade and political alliances as well as bringing wealth and prestige to the tribe. By 1830 there was a population of about 800 non-Māori which included a total of about 200 runaway convicts and seamen. The seamen often lived in New Zealand for a short time before joining another ship a few months later.
In 1839 there were 1100 Europeans living in the North Island. Violence against European shipping, the ongoing musket wars between Māori tribes, cultural barriers and the lack of an established European law and order made settling in New Zealand a risky prospect. By the late 1830s the average missionary would claim that many Māori were nominally Christian; many of the Māori slaves that had been captured during the Musket Wars had been freed, and cannibalism had been largely stamped out. By this time many Māori, especially in the north, could read and write in their native language and to a lesser extent English.

1840 onwards

European migration has resulted in a deep legacy being left on the social and political structures of New Zealand. Early visitors to New Zealand included whalers, sealers, missionaries, mariners, and merchants, attracted to natural resources in abundance. They came from the Australian colonies, Great Britain and Ireland, Germany, France, Portugal, the Netherlands, Denmark, the United States, and Canada.
In 1840 representatives of the British Crown signed the Treaty of Waitangi with 240 Māori chiefs throughout New Zealand, motivated by plans for a French colony at Akaroa and land purchases by the New Zealand Company in 1839. British sovereignty was then proclaimed over New Zealand in May 1840. Some would later argue that the proclamation of sovereignty was in direct conflict with the treaty which in its Maori version had guaranteed sovereignty to the Maori who signed it. By the end of the 1850s the European and Mäori populations were of a similar size as immigration and natural increase boosted European numbers.
Following the formalising of British sovereignty, the organised and structured flow of migrants from Great Britain and Ireland began. Government-chartered ships like the clipper Gananoque and the Glentanner carried immigrants to New Zealand. Typically clipper ships left British ports such as London and travelled south through the central Atlantic to about 43 degrees south to pick up the strong westerly winds that carried the clippers well south of South Africa and Australia. Ships would then head north once in the vicinity of New Zealand. The Glentanner migrant ship of 610 tonnes made two runs to New Zealand and several to Australia carrying 400 tonne of passengers and cargo. Travel time was about 3 to 3 1/2 months to New Zealand. Cargo carried on the Glentanner for New Zealand included coal, slate, lead sheet, wine, beer, cart components, salt, soap and passengers' personal goods. On the 1857 passage the ship carried 163 official passengers, most of them government assisted. On the return trip the ship carried a wool cargo worth 45,000 pounds. In the 1860s discovery of gold started a gold rush in Otago. By 1860 more than 100,000 British and Irish settlers lived throughout New Zealand. The Otago Association actively recruited settlers from Scotland, creating a definite Scottish influence in that region, while the Canterbury Association recruited settlers from the south of England, creating a definite English influence over that region. In the 1860s most migrants settled in the South Island due to gold discoveries and the availability of flat grass covered land for pastoral farming. The low number of Māori and the absence of warfare gave the South Island many advantages. It was only when the New Zealand wars ended that The North Island again became an attractive destination.
In the 1870s the MP Julius Vogel borrowed millions of pounds from Britain to help fund capital development such as a nationwide rail system, lighthouses, ports and bridges, and encouraged mass migration from Britain. By 1870 the non-Māori population reached over 250,000.
Other smaller groups of settlers came from Germany, Scandinavia, and other parts of Europe as well as from China and India, but British and Irish settlers made up the vast majority, and did so for the next 150 years.

Demographics

The 2018 official census had 3,372,708 or 71.76% identify as European. The general Census of New Zealand population was taken November- December 1851. Subsequent censuses were taken in 1858, 1861, 1864, 1867, 1871, 1874, 1878 and 1881 and thereafter at five-yearly intervals until 1926. The table shows the ethnic composition of New Zealand population at each census since the early twentieth century. Europeans are still the largest ethnic group in New Zealand. Their proportion of the total New Zealand population has been decreasing gradually since the 1916 Census.
The 2006 Census counted 2,609,592 European New Zealanders. Most census reports do not separate European New Zealanders from the broader European ethnic category, which was the largest broad ethnic category in the 2006 Census. Europeans comprised 67.6 percent of respondents in 2006 compared with 80.1 percent in the 2001 census.
The apparent drop in this figure was due to Statistics New Zealand's acceptance of 'New Zealander' as a distinct response to the ethnicity question and their placement of it within the "Other" ethnic category, along with an email campaign asking people to give it as their ethnicity in the 2006 Census.
In previous censuses, these responses were counted belonging to the European New Zealanders group, and Statistics New Zealand plans to return to this approach for the 2011 Census. Eleven percent of respondents identified as New Zealanders in the 2006 Census, well above the trend observed in previous censuses, and higher than the percentage seen in other surveys that year.
In April 2009, Statistics New Zealand announced a review of their official ethnicity standard, citing this debate as a reason, and a draft report was released for public comment. In response, the New Zealand Herald opined that the decision to leave the question unchanged in 2011 and rely on public information efforts was "rather too hopeful", and advocated a return to something like the 1986 approach. This asked people which of several identities "apply to you", instead of the more recent question "What ethnic group do you belong to?"
Ethnicity2001 census2006 census2013 census
New Zealand European2,696,7242,381,0762,727,009
English35,08244,20238,916
British 16,57227,19236,024
South African 14,91321,60928,656
Dutch27,50728,64428,503
European 23,59821,85526,472
Australian20,78426,35522,467
Scottish13,78215,03914,412
Irish11,70612,65114,193
German9,05710,91712,810
American8,47210,80612,339
Russian3,1414,8365,979
Canadian4,3925,6045,871
French3,5133,8164,593
Italian2,9553,1173,798
Welsh3,4143,7743,708
Croatian2,5052,5502,673
European 4779422,637
Greek2,2802,3552,478
Swiss2,3462,3132,388
Polish1,9561,9652,163
Spanish1,7311,8572,043
Danish1,9951,9321,986
Zimbabwean2,5561,617
Romanian5221,5541,452
Swedish1,1191,2541,401
Hungarian8941,2121,365
Afrikaner1,3411,197
Czech6007561,083
Serbian7531,0291,056
Austrian8919931,029
Other European9,9069,6699,207
Total people, European2,871,4322,609,5892,969,391

Pākehā

The term Pākehā, the etymology of which is unclear, is used interchangeably with European New Zealanders. The 1996 census used the wording "New Zealand European " in the ethnicity question, however the word Pākehā was subsequently removed after what Statistics New Zealand called a "significant adverse reaction" to its use to identify ethnicity. In 2013, the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study carried out by The University of Auckland found no evidence that the word was derogatory, 14% of the overall respondents to the survey chose the option Pākehā to describe themselves with the remainder preferring New Zealander, New Zealand European or simply Kiwi.

Palagi

The term "Palagi", pronounced Palangi, is Samoan in origin and is used in similar ways to Pākehā, usually by people of Samoan or other Pacific Island descent.

British and Irish New Zealanders

For residents of citizens that originate from New Zealand see New Zealanders in the United Kingdom
The New Zealand 2006 census statistics reported citizens with British, English, Scottish, Irish, Welsh and Celtic origins. Historically, a sense of 'Britishness' has figured prominently in the identity of many New Zealanders. As late as the 1950s it was common for New Zealanders to refer to themselves as British, such as when Prime Minister Keith Holyoake described Sir Edmund Hillary's successful ascent of Mt. Everest as " the British race and New Zealand on top of the world". New Zealand passports described nationals as "British Subject and New Zealand Citizen" until 1974, when this was changed to "New Zealand Citizen".
While "European" identity predominates political discourse in New Zealand today, the term "British" is still used by some New Zealanders to explain their ethnic origins. Others see the term as better describing previous generations; for instance, journalist Colin James referred to "we ex-British New Zealanders" in a 2005 speech. It remains a relatively uncontroversial descriptor of ancestry.

Politics

Colonial period

As the earliest colonists of New Zealand, settlers from England and their descendants often held positions of power and made or helped make laws often because many had been involved in government back in England.

National founders

The lineage of most of the national founders of New Zealand was British such as:
Various other founders of New Zealand have also been unofficially recognised:
European-New Zealand culture is the culture of New Zealand. The culture of New Zealand is essentially a Western culture influenced by the unique geography of New Zealand, the diverse input of Māori and other Oceanian people, the British colonisation of New Zealand that began in 1840, and the various waves of multi-ethnic migration that followed. As the English were always the largest element among the settlers, their cultural influence was naturally greater than that of the Irish, Welsh or Scots. Evidence of a significant Anglo-Celtic heritage includes the predominance of the English language, the common law, the Westminster system of government, Christianity as the once dominant religion, and the popularity of sports such as rugby and cricket; all of which are part of the heritage that has shaped modern New Zealand.
European settlement increased through the early decades of the 19th century, with numerous trading stations established, especially in the North. The experiences of European New Zealanders have endured in New Zealand music, cinema and literature. Kerikeri, founded in 1822, and Bluff founded in 1823, both claim to be the oldest European settlements in New Zealand after the CMS mission station at Hohi, which was established in December 1814.

Language

New Zealand English is a major variety of the English language and is used throughout New Zealand. Having an official status in the Constitution, New Zealand English is the one of the country's official languages and is the first language of the majority of the population.
New Zealand English began to diverge from British English after the English language was established in New Zealand by colonists during the 19th century. It arose from the intermingling of early settlers from a great variety of mutually intelligible dialectal regions of the British Isles and quickly developed into a distinct variety of English. New Zealand English differs from other varieties of English in vocabulary, accent, pronunciation, register, grammar and spelling.
The earliest form of New Zealand English was first spoken by the children of the colonists born into the colony of New Zealand. This first generation of children created a new dialect that was to become the language of the nation. The New Zealand-born children in the new colony were exposed to a wide range of dialects from all over the British Isles, in particular from Ireland and South East England. The native-born children of the colony created the new dialect from the speech they heard around them, and with it expressed peer solidarity. Even when new settlers arrived, this new dialect was strong enough to blunt other patterns of speech.
The most commonly spoken European languages other than English in New Zealand are French and German.

Music

Another area of cultural influence are New Zealand Patriotic songs:
Sir Basil Spence provided the original conceptual design of the Beehive in 1964. The detailed architectural design was undertaken by the New Zealand government architect Fergus Sheppard, and structural design of the building was undertaken by the Ministry of Works. The Beehive was built in stages between 1969 and 1979. W. M. Angus constructed the first stage - the podium, underground car park and basement for a national civil defence centre, and Gibson O'Connor constructed the ten floors of the remainder of the building. Bellamy's restaurant moved into the building in the summer of 1975–76 and Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, unveiled a plaque in the reception hall in February 1977. The Prime Minister, Robert Muldoon, formally opened the building in May 1977. The government moved into the upper floors in 1979. The annex facing Museum Street was completed in 1981. In July 2015, Heritage New Zealand declared the Beehive "of outstanding heritage significance for its central role in the governance of New Zealand".
Many of the more imposing structures in and around Dunedin and Christchurch were built in the latter part of the 19th century as a result of the economic boom following the Central Otago Gold Rush. A common style for these landmarks is the use of dark basalt blocks and facings of cream-coloured Oamaru stone, a form of limestone mined at Weston in North Otago. Notable buildings in this style include Dunedin Railway Station, the University of Otago Registry Building, Christchurch Arts Centre, Knox Church, Dunedin, ChristChurch Cathedral, Christchurch, Christ's College, Christchurch, Garrison Hall, Dunedin, parts of the Canterbury Provincial Council Buildings and Otago Boys' High School.

Place names in New Zealand of European origin

There are many places in New Zealand named after people and places in Europe, especially the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, and the Netherlands as a result of the many English, Scottish, Welsh, Irish, Dutch and other European settlers and explorers. These include the name "New Zealand" itself, as described below, along with several notable cities and regions:
Small pockets of settlers from other European countries add to the identity and place names of specific New Zealand regions, most notably the Scandinavian-inspired place names of Dannevirke and Norsewood in southern Hawke's Bay.

Prime Ministers

All of the ancestors of the forty Prime Ministers of New Zealand were European and Anglo-Celtic. Some ancestors of three Prime Ministers did not originate from Britain or Ireland: some of the ancestors of David Lange were Germans, some of the ancestors of Julius Vogel and Francis Bell were European Jews, and some of John Key's ancestors were Jewish Austrian migrants.