The Chartist Legacy in the British World: Evidence from New Zealand's Southern Settlements, 1840s−1870s

Abstract

Was there a Chartist legacy in British‐world settler societies such as New Zealand? An older historiography relating to the mid‐nineteenth century colony downplayed ideology and Chartism was given only the briefest of considerations. A closer scrutiny of early settler newspapers published in the first two decades of settlement, however, facilitated by recent digitalization, allows the historian to assess more accurately how far the British movement reproduced its discourse in the overseas colony. The article initially surveys the existing treatments of British‐world Chartism before exploring the extent to which Chartism infused political and economic discourse in this far‐flung location.