Images and appraisals of New Zealand 1839-1855: a cognitive-behavioural approach to historical geography

Abstract

This dissertation considers the images and appraisals of New Zealand in the period 1839 to 1855. The expectations of British emigrants were examined in terms of the information available about New Zealand, the nature, accessibility and dissemination of information, and the images about the new environment created in the accessible sources of information. These expectations, largely drawn from the images, are compared with the appraisals made by the emigrants after arrival and settlement. The dissertation was developed at three levels: as an historical geography using a cognitive-behavioural approach, being concerned with the relationships between information, images, and appraisals, and examining a specific process - emigration to New Zealand from 1839 to 1855. In light of the recent anxiety and pessimism over the future and direction of historical geography, the use of new concepts and methodologies has been regarded as a necessity. While there are many problems and complexities inherent in the use of a cognitive-behavioural approach to historical geography, the concepts of perception, image, and appraisal offer much to the understanding of how man evaluated and behaved in the world of the past. It is suggested that the use of relevant cognitive-behavioural ideas broadens the areas for research by offering a new perspective to the past and by encouraging the use of much previously unused material. The second concern was the relationship between information and image and between image and appraisal. The role of information was found to be most important in the development of images about the new environment. The appraisals also reflected the information contained within the images. It was suggested that it is impossible to reconstruct images of the environment in their totality but that it is possible to reconstruct simpler sub-images of specific features in the environment. It is in this manner that the historical geographer can make a major contribution to the understanding of man’s behaviour, in relation to the geography of past times. The third concern was with the process of emigration to New Zealand in the period 1839 to 1855. Although much information about New Zealand was available, the intending emigrants had access only to limited sources of information, much of which was promotional in nature. The images of the physical environment were largely drawn from these sources. These images appear to have been the basis of the expectations of most of the emigrants. The later appraisals made of the physical environment showed a close relationship to the images, although several discrepancies occurred. These discrepancies reflected the distortion of information, the role of imagination and the personal evaluations of different sources of information. Emigration to New Zealand in the period 1839 to 1855 was, therefore, examined in terms of the images and appraisals made of the new environment. While general satisfaction with the new homeland was expressed, few of the emigrants considered New Zealand to be an ‘Eden of the South Seas’.