Museum: Tough as old boots, immigrants' footwear not made for early NZ

Ainsworth Boot Maker, established in 1887 at the corner of Victoria Avenue and Maria Place, Whanganui. Photo / supplied

MUSEUM NOTEBOOK

It must have been quite daunting for immigrant settlers to pack up their lives and move to a different country on the other side of the world.

It would have been more daunting to arrive and realise you needed something but couldn't just nip down to the shop and buy it.

For a lot of British immigrants in the mid-19th century, this was the situation they faced upon arrival in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Knowing that clothing would be initially difficult to find, immigrants were told to bring plenty with them.

An 1849 handbook for those coming to New Zealand provided a helpful list of items to bring to their new home.

Not including household items, it suggested the minimum wardrobe for a labourer should include 18 coloured shirts, 2 Guernsey shirts, 6 pairs wool stockings, 12 pairs cotton socks, 1 pair fustian trousers with jacket and waistcoat, 3 pairs canvas trousers, 1 pea coat, 1 cloth coat with waistcoat and trouser, 1 cloth cap, 1 pair strong shoes and 1 pair light shoes.

Women were recommended to bring their range of chemises, petticoats, dresses and bonnets, but were told to bring 2 pairs of shoes and 1 pair of boots.

Museum Notebook

The author of these lists must have had a lot of faith in British-made footwear, and was completely oblivious to its unsuitability for the New Zealand landscape.

These people arriving in New Zealand were greeted with mud and dirt, not the paved paths and cobbled roads they were used to.

They needed sturdy boots, especially people working the land.

They would customise their boots with hobnails, or seek out boots reinforced with metal plates to help them last under the tough conditions.

Small stores started popping up in the 1830s and newspapers of the time advertised boots at 10 shillings a pair (equivalent to around $60 in 2020).

William Holder, who arrived in Whanganui in 1841, wrote to his father in England and complained that boots here were very expensive at 30 shillings a pair (equivalent to $180). In June 1843 William's father sent him 60 pairs of boots to sell and make a profit for himself.

An unidentified man displaying the soles of his hobnailed boots. Photo / supplied

Boot makers saw an opportunity to thrive in New Zealand, and many completed their apprenticeships in England before sailing to establish their own businesses here.

Their boots were often rougher than the neater, better-made imported British boots, and were made for the lower end of the market.

By the 1850s a pair of imported boots cost £1-00 (equivalent to more than $120). The Government added a one-shilling tax duty to imported boots to try to boost local business.

The first New Zealand footwear factories were well established by 1870, but by 1880 there were 500,000 pairs of footwear imported annually compared with 280,000 made here.

In 1895 65 footwear factories were operating in New Zealand producing a million pairs per year, and the market boomed after World War II.

By the late 1980s 95 per cent of footwear sold in New Zealand was made here.

Then import restrictions were removed and tariffs were lowered, and 20 years later, 95 per cent of footwear sold here was imported.

John Piercy of Ūpokongaro, showing his knee-length boots with hobnail soles and support on the ankles and heels.

This had a negative effect on local footwear companies who had to either shut down or move their manufacture offshore.

•Sandi Black is the archivist at Whanganui Regional Museum.