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Poster in protest at government's exclusion of Irishmen from the benefits of passages to Wellington Province.
Text:
Irishmen!
Rally Round
Those Liberal-Minded
Englishmen and Scotchmen
Who expressed their disapprobation in the Strongest terms at
The Conduct of the Government
In Excluding
Irishmen
From the benefit of Passages to this Province, under their Regulations, at a numerously-attended Public Meeting in the Lyceum Theatre on Friday night, 9th inst. W. Bowler, Esq., in chair, in the following resolution, unanimously carried.
Moved by Mr W. Allen and seconded by Mr Atcheson
"That this meeting express their marked disapprobation of the conduct of I. E. Featherston, Superintendant of this province, in instructing the Government agents in England to exclude Irish Immigrants from the benefit of passages to the Province under the Government Regulations".
Erin-Gu-Braugh!
New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian has a report of this meeting of Friday 9 October 1857, in its issue for the next day. Election campaigns were going on at the time, and Isaac Featherston and Dr Welch were Wellington candidates.
From the report it is clear that the Irish question was one of several which had been debated regularly over the previous months. Featherston was Wellington Superintendent from 1853 to 1871. Kathleen Coleridge reports that W. Bowler died in 1863. W. Allen was prominent from the late 1850s onwards.
[The words 'Erin-Gu-Braugh' mean 'Ireland Forever']
Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand
Reference: Eph-IMMIGRATION-1857-01
Further information and copies of this image may be obtained from the Library through its 'Timeframes' website, http://timeframes.natlib.govt.nz
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.