Red Wine to Kauri Gum: The History of Dalmatian Emigration to New Zealand’s Kauri Gum Fields Prior to World War I
P.D. Mataga
Paperback, 138pp + CD
The son of a Dalmatian gum digger, the author graduated as a civil engineer from the University of Auckland. After a career in the construction industry, followed by a period as a consulting engineer, he has spent his semi-retirement researching and writing on genealogical and historical topics. Red Wine to Kauri Gum recounts the reasons for the immigration of about 6,000 Dalmatians and coastal Istrians to New Zealand’s gum fields prior to World War 1. Most were short term immigrants seeking money to support families at home, but others settled and formed the nucleus for future permanent immigrants. Both short and long term immigrants were trapped by the outbreak of World War 1 and faced restrictions as enemy aliens that were not completely lifted until 1924.
A database in the form of a CD is included with the book. Its contents include over 4,000 readable incoming passenger names, nearly 2,000 departure names, names of 1,300 Dalmatians naturalised by 1916, names of 1,200 married couples, war legislation and regulations, and other information on Dalmatians in New Zealand in 1916.
Red Wine to Kauri Gum: The History of Dalmatian Emigration to New Zealand’s Kauri Gum Fields Prior to World War I
P.D. Mataga
Paperback, 138pp + CD
The son of a Dalmatian gum digger, the author graduated as a civil engineer from the University of Auckland. After a career in the construction industry, followed by a period as a consulting engineer, he has spent his semi-retirement researching and writing on genealogical and historical topics. Red Wine to Kauri Gum recounts the reasons for the immigration of about 6,000 Dalmatians and coastal Istrians to New Zealand’s gum fields prior to World War 1. Most were short term immigrants seeking money to support families at home, but others settled and formed the nucleus for future permanent immigrants. Both short and long term immigrants were trapped by the outbreak of World War 1 and faced restrictions as enemy aliens that were not completely lifted until 1924.
A database in the form of a CD is included with the book. Its contents include over 4,000 readable incoming passenger names, nearly 2,000 departure names, names of 1,300 Dalmatians naturalised by 1916, names of 1,200 married couples, war legislation and regulations, and other information on Dalmatians in New Zealand in 1916.