THE PETTY BOURGEOISIE IN COLONIAL CANTERBURY; A STUDY OF THE CANTERBURY WORKING MAN'S POLITICAL PROTECTION AND MUTUAL IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION (1865-66), AND THE CANTERBURY FREEHOLD LAND SOCIETY (1866-70) A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in History in the University of Canterbury by G. R. Wright University of Canterbury 1998 CONTENTS Abbreviations ............................................................................................ 1 Abstract ................................................................................................... 2 Preface .................................................................................................... 3 1. The Petty Bourgeoisie ............................................................................... 7 2. Occupations ......................................................................................... 35 3. Politics ............................................................................................... 71 4. Land ................................................................................................ 1 08 5. Voluntary Participation ........................................................................... 137 Conel u sions ........................................................................................... 161 Appendices ............................................................................................ 163 References ............................................................................................. 191 1 ABBREVIATIONS AJHR Appendix to the Journal of the House of Representatives DNZB Dictionary of New Zealand Biography CPER Electoral Roll of the Province of Canterbury FLS' Canterbury Freehold Land Society NZJH New Zealand Journal of History NZPD New Zealand Parliamentary Debates WMA Canterbury Working Man's Political Protection and Mutual Improvement Association 2 ABSTRACT This thesis argues for the existence of a distinct petty bourgeois socio-economic class, with particular liberal values, in colonial Christchurch. It approaches this through an examination of two related mid-Victorian Christchurch institutions, the Canterbury Working Man's Association and the Canterbury Freehold Land Society, and of the wider activities of their members. The first chapter looks at the issue of class definition and identity, and perceptions of the social topography of the mid-Victorian period. The four chapters that follow relate the characteristics of the British petty bourgeoisie to the colonial environment, and in so doing, distinguish a colonial petty bourgeoisie that is broadly similar, but with some significant variation. These differences centre on the ideology of liberalism, and its idealistic precept, 'independence', The independence oriented colonial environment produced a petty bourgeois who were assertively liberal. This shows in a heightened expectation of government intervention in employment and land distribution, and serves to highlight differences between the political liberalism of the petty bourgeois and that of the governing bourgeois. The individualistic and idealistic notion of a colonial independence also meant that the petty bourgeoisie pursued a different course of self-improvement than did their British counterparts. Some self-help institutions important in Britain were insignificant in colonial Christchurch. The acquisition of land became particularly pivotal, though a disjunction between rhetoric and practice shows that this may have had a different meaning for the petty bourgeois than it did for other classes of colonist. 3 PREFACE When I began my thesis, I had intended to broadly examine nineteenth-century immigration to Canterbury. Quickly this was refmed to an examination of contemporary attitudes to immigration in the 1860s. Whilst reading the Lyttelton Times in order to recover these attitudes, I found the names of certain individuals recuning time and again, not only in discussion of immigration, but also in other leading debates on subjects such as access to land and political representation. These men were literate, politically aware, socially active, and concerned to further their interests, but they were evidently not middle class in a subjective sense. Part of the question of the identity of the group was answered when I discovered many of these men united in an organisation called the Canterbury Working Man's Association (WMA) , and an offshoot, 'the Canterbury Freehold Land Society (FLS). The thesis subsequently evolved into an examination of the significance of these Christchurch organisations and of their membership - who they were; what their class identity was; where they fitted socially, politically and economically; what their values and objectives were; and the impact (if any) that the organizations had on the lives of members. It posits that the membership were representative of a large and distinctive social class in colonial Christchurch - the petty bourgeoisie, and articulated vital parts of the identity of this class in their opinions and actions. The first, historiographical, chapter distinguishes the intellectual, social, and economic complexion of the mid-Victorian British petty bourgeoisie. It examines the place and type of class identity in the mid-Victorian period; and outlines leading debates concerning the evolution of its petty bourgeoisie and their liberal value system. The second chapter examines the occupational character of the British petty bourgeoisie and the values associated with it, and then compares this with the members of the WMA and the FLS. It speculates on the relation between colonial petty bourgeois values and the development of trade unions, and then relates occupational character and values to the participation of members of the two organizations in the unemployment agitations in 1864, 1867, 1868, and 1870. Chapter three 4 looks at the liberal political ideology of the petty bourgeoisie, its colonial permutations, and the manner in which the WMA expressed these ideas during the 1866 provincial election. The fourth chapter looks at the significance of land in liberal ideology - particularly its equation with independence - through the medium of the WMA, which supported access to land, and the FLS, which worked for land acquisition. It concludes that independence through land may have had a distinct petty bourgeois meaning. Finally, the fifth chapter canvasses the wider social links of members, and the extent to which these fit the profile and values of petty bourgeois liberalism. Nonconformity, temperance, and self-help organizations are among those factors considered. There are certain provisos to be made when drawing conclusions from the available evidence. The first problem is one of sources. Many sources are selective in the detail they record, and rounded pictures emerge of only a few individuals. Newspapers such as the Lyttelton Times were unashamedly partisan and elitist, and may well have excised more extreme expressions of petty bourgeois consciousness. A lack of detail about many individuals may also, however, be an indicator of a low public profile. Secondly, the identification of the individual members of these two organizations has been rendered difficult by the contemporary journalistic practice of normally using surnames only. Thus in the case of common surnames, assumptions have to be made on the basis of available biographical detail as to the likely identity of the individual. For example, the treasurer of the Canterbury Freehold Land Society was a Mr Wilson. There are two possible candidates, both with the Christian name William. One was a Kaiapoi accountant, and the other a Christchurch nurseryman and businessman. I selected the latter rather than the former because he was particularly prominent in the public arena in Christchurch at this time. Consequently my interpretation of the identity of the sample may to a degree be perceived to be predetermined by my thesis. However to mitigate this, I have indicated where I believe an uncertainty of identity exists. 5 The second problem is one of interpretation of evidence. Christchurch during the 1860s was a small town with a limited pool of those able and willing to participate in forms of association. The membership of organizations such as the Canterbury Working Man's Association was therefore small. This means that the drawing of conclusions can in some cases be tentative only. The smallness of the sample may also mean that the class profile of particular types of association was less pronounced, and involvement in a broad range of interests more likely. One great question can be seen, thus, to loom over the strength of the argument constructed in this thesis. This is the issue of typicality. Just how representative of their social class were the men sampled? I argue that evidence suggests these individuals were objectively petty bourgeois in class complexion, the class in which the ideology of liberalism reached its most powerful expression. The membership of both organizations is sufficiently occupationally diverse that their statements may be perceived as articulating a petty bourgeois position. Naturally many individuals featured in the Lyttelton Times because they were particularly outspoken, passionate, or downright irascible. The exaggerated character of some of their rhetoric does not mean, however, that they were any less representative. It must also be recognized, however, that as much as they identified with their fellow