Till Death Do Us Part: Laborers’ Marriage Practices in Late Victorian New Zealand

Abstract

What happened to marriage patterns within the British Empire's colonies where more opportunity existed for breaks with past norms? This paper, drawn from research into a group of laborers known as Brogdens’ Navvies who emigrated to New Zealand in 1872 and 1873, argues that working people conformed with social expectations around marriage until legal and economic constraints forced them into alternative forms of relationships. Additionally, communities were sometimes more flexible and accepting of arrangements than legal strictures and prescriptions might suggest. From 1898 onward, law changes that legalized marriage breakdown and allowed remarriage seem to have reduced the need for alternatives.