The farthest promised land

by Rollo Arnold

"... This study of the English villagers who made up one major group of assisted immigrants to New Zealand, challenges what has become of the traditional view of the "Vogel" recruits of the 1870s who are still thought of as having being predominantly town dwellers in whose selection standards had been "rather let down". Probing the strong links formed between the immigration drive of the 1870s and the remarkable Revolt of the Field of the English village labourer, with which it coincided almost exactly, Professor Arnold makes the case that the New Zealand countryside has never received a more valuable infusion of rural skills. The name of Joseph Arch, a Warwickshire hedgecutter, was to become a household word in New Zealand. The revolt that he led sent many of England's best workers, together with their wives and families, on the long voyage to a "promised land" across the seas. By following the immigrants back to the hearths, homes and fields of their native villages, Professor Arnold