Abstract
This chapter examines migration control in 1870s New Zealand, a decade in which Julius Vogel’s designs for modernising the country manifested in the Immigration and Public Works Act. Agent-General Isaac Featherston was charged with recruiting migrants en masse. He faced accusations of facilitating the travel of ‘imported lunatics’ about which he maintained that ‘they were perfectly sane before they left England’. Concurrently, the ineffective Imbecile Passengers Act (IPA) was introduced to target the self-funding ‘half-scamp, half-lunatic’ type. A policy versus practice analysis of the attempts to attract the industrious and repel the insane exposes this as an operational dichotomy.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsAuthor information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Kain, J.S. (2019). Nation Building, Agent-Generals and Imported Lunatics, New Zealand 1870–1879. In: Insanity and Immigration Control in New Zealand and Australia, 1860–1930. Mental Health in Historical Perspective. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-26330-0_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-26330-0_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-26329-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-26330-0
eBook Packages: HistoryHistory (R0)