Figure 1.--Here we have a family portrait taken in in Christchurch, on the Southern Island of New Zealand. They are clearly a well-to-do enjoying afternoon tea--all very English. The portrait is undated, but the mother's blouse clearly dates the scene to the mid-1890s. At the time New Zealand was a British Dominion and the non-Maori population throughly British. A substantial part of the population was either born in Britain or had at least one parent born in Britain. The family is also dressed like the British--except for the children's barefeet. Put your cursor on the image to ee a closeup of the children.

Here we have a family portrait taken in in Christchurch, on the Southern Island of New Zealand. They are clearly a well-to-do enjoying afternoon tea--all very English (figure 1). The portrait is undated, but the mother's blouse clearly dates the scene to the mid-1890s. At the time New Zealand was a British Dominion and the non-Maori population throughly British. A substantial part of the population was either born in Britain or had at least one parent born in Britain. The family is also dressed like the British--except for the children's barefeet. This is most visible differnce. That was already common in New Zealand even fir the well-to-do, but not in Britain--except among the poor. A major factor of course was the climate. The older boy wears a basic sailor suit. We are not sure about the younger boy, but his white outfit may be a tunic or perhaps a smock, it is a little unclear. There appears to be some smocking on the front. They look to be pre-scjool children, about 3-5 years of age.

Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing national pages:
[Return to the Main New Zealand family page]
[Return to the Main New Zealand page]
[Return to the Main Oceania page]
[Return to the Main countries page]
[Australia] [Bismarck Argepelago] [Brunei] [Cooks] [Fiji] [French Polynesia] [Kiribati]
[Marianas] [Micronesia] [Nauru] [New Caledonia] [New Guinea] [Palau] [Pitcarin] [Samoa] [Solomans] [Vanuatu]
[England]

Created: 11:09 PM 11/7/2015
Last updated: 11:09 PM 11/7/2015