# 1886 New Zealand census

The 1886 New Zealand census was a population census of the non-Māori population taken on 28 March 1886, a census of Māori having taken place during February and March 1886. The non-Māori population was 578,482, an 18.07% increase since the previous census in 1881. The Māori population was estimated to be 41,969, including 2254 part-Māori living in tribes. Another 1,958 part-Māori were living as Europeans and counted in the main census.

## The process

The country was divided into enumerators' districts by the government. The enumerators divided their assigned districts into sub-districts, which had to be approved by the registrar-general, and then chose sub-enumerators who handed out and collected census forms from households. Forms were sent to the central office where up to 32 clerks in crowded offices sorted the forms and extracted, counted, recounted and calculated the numbers. 639 occupations had been identified from the previous census, but clerks also had to deal with other stated occupations that didn't fit the existing categories. Separate summaries and tables were created to show the operations of churches, land, institutions and industries.
For the Māori census, more details were collected than in previous years, including the tribe and hapū (sub-tribe) of each person.
The completed census for both Māori and non-Māori was submitted to Parliament on 27 June 1887.

## Non-Māori population

| Provincial District | Population | Percent (%) change since 1881 | Largest borough in each district | Borough population | Borough and suburbs population |
| Auckland | 130,379 | + 31.10 % | Auckland | 33,161 | 57,048 |
| Taranaki | 17,999 | + 21.14 % | New Plymouth | 3,093 | |
| Wellington | 77,536 | + 26.34 % | Wellington | 25,945 | 27,833 |
| Hawke's Bay | 24,568 | + 41.46 % | Napier | 7,680 | |
| Marlborough | 11,113 | + 19.49 % | Blenheim | 3,094 | |
| Nelson | 30,203 | + 15.83 % | Nelson | 7,315 | |
| Westland | 15,931 | + 6.13 % | Greymouth | 3,133 | |
| Canterbury | 121,400 | + 8.21 % | Christchurch | 15,265 | 44,688 |
| Otago | 149,154 | + 11.24 % | Dunedin | 23,243 | 45,518 |
| Chatham Islands | 199 | -17.77 % | | | |
| Total | 578,482 | + 18.07 % | | |

## Birthplaces of the non-Māori population

For the first time, more than half the non-Māori population (51.89%) was New Zealand-born, compared to 45.6% in 1881. 'British allegiance' Included everyone born in British possessions, naturalized British subjects and British subjects born abroad. Those who were born at sea or who had not specified a birthplace were deemed British if they had a British-sounding name. Westland had the most foreign subjects (10.36%), and Canterbury had the fewest (1.64%).
There were 4,550 people born in China, but this figure includes eight non-Chinese people. This was a decrease of over 9% from the 5,033 Chinese-born people (including 39 non-Chinese) counted in 1881. The number of Chinese recorded in the census was 4542, of whom 15 were female. 2,727 Chinese people lived in Otago, with smaller populations in Westland (825), Nelson (478), Canterbury (164), Auckland (163) and Wellington (147). Most of the Chinese in Otago, Westland and Nelson lived on the goldfields in those locations.
| Birthplace | Number | Percent (%) of population |
| British possessions: | | |
| New Zealand | 300,190 | 51.89 |
| Australian colonies | 17,245 | 2.98 |
| England | 125,657 | 21.72 |
| Wales | 1,981 | 0.34 |
| Scotland | 54,810 | 9.48 |
| Ireland | 51,408 | 8.89 |
| Other British possessions | 3,953 | 0.68 |
| Foreign countries: | | |
| Germany | 5,007 | 0.87 |
| Denmark and possessions | 2,178 | 0.38 |
| Sweden | 1,439 | 0.25 |
| Norway | 1,338 | 0.23 |
| France and possessions | 786 | 0.14 |
| Austria | 536 | 0.09 |
| Italy | 438 | 0.08 |
| Switzerland | 393 | 0.07 |
| Russia and possessions | 316 | 0.05 |
| Portugal and possessions | 198 | 0.03 |
| Holland and possessions | 140 | 0.02 |
| Poland | 129 | 0.02 |
| Greece | 99 | 0.02 |
| Belgium | 89 | 0.01 |
| Spain and possessions | 76 | 0.01 |
| Other European countries | 42 | 0.01 |
| China | 4,550 | 0.79 |
| America, North America (so returned) | 1,088 | 0.19 |
| United States of America | 683 | 0.12 |
| Africa | 167 | 0.03 |
| Other foreign countries | 193 | 0.03 |
| At sea | 1,324 | 0.23 |
| Unspecified | 2,029 | 0.35 |
| Total | 578,482 | 100 |
| Allegiance: | | |
| British subjects | 560,598 | 96.91 |
| Foreign subjects | 17,884 | 3.09 |
| Total | 578,482 | 100 |

## Occupations

The non-Māori census asked what occupations the population followed. The most populous category, Order III: domestic duties, includes children in families. For those over 20 years of age, 0.53 % of males and 82.63 % of females were involved in domestic duties. The most common occupations for men were those related to farming, market gardening and labouring on farms, as well as fishermen (65,178). 690 men were employed to kill rabbits, which had become a pest. The most common occupations for women were domestic servant (13,471), and dressmaking and millinery (5,472). Half of the domestic servants (6,750) were girls under 20 years old. There were 1,371 male teachers and 1704 female teachers (plus 502 governesses). Unemployed people were included under their usual or former stated occupation, and hospital patients, asylum and prison inmates were included under charitable institutions, Order XV: 'Persons supported by the community'.
| Class | Order | Occupations | Total number | Number of males | % males | Number of females | % females |
| I. Professional | I. | Persons engaged in the General or Local Government, or the defence or protection of the country | 2,940 | 2,911 | 0.93 | 29 | 0.01 |
| I. Professional | II. | Persons engaged in the learned professions, or in literature, art, science (with their immediate subordinates) | 9,544 | 6,028 | 1.93 | 3516 | 1.32 |
| II. Domestic | III. | Persons engaged in the domestic offices or duties of wives, mothers, mistresses of families, children, relatives (not otherwise returned) | 350,445 | 118,102 | 37.83 | 232,343 | 87.26 |
| II. Domestic | IV. | Persons engaged in entertaining and performing personal offices for man | 22,278 | 5,074 | 1.62 | 17,204 | 6.46 |
| III. Commercial | V. | Persons who buy and sell, keep or lend money, houses, or goods of various kinds | 11,661 | 10,859 | 3.48 | 802 | 0.3 |
| III. Commercial | VI. | Persons engaged in the conveyance of men, animals, goods, and messages | 15,539 | 15,459 | 4.95 | 80 | 0.03 |
| IV. Agricultural | VII. | Persons possessing, working, or cultivating land, raising or dealing in animals, or following pursuits subsidiary thereto | 65,178 | 64,259 | 20.58 | 919 | 0.34 |
| V. Industrial | VIII. | Persons engaged in working and dealing in art and mechanic productions in which matters of various kinds are employed in combination | 20,750 | 20,470 | 6.56 | 280 | 0.11 |
| V. Industrial | IX. | Persons working and dealing in textile fabrics, dress, and in fibrous materials | 17,042 | 8,100 | 2.59 | 8,942 | 3.36 |
| V. Industrial | X. | Persons working and dealing in food and drinks | 9,114 | 8,817 | 2.82 | 297 | 0.11 |
| V. Industrial | XI. | Persons working and dealing in animal and vegetable substances | 5,663 | 5,641 | 1.81 | 22 | 0.01 |
| V. Industrial | XII. | Persons working and dealing in minerals | 23,858 | 23,851 | 7.64 | 7 | 0 |
| VI. Indefinite and non-productive | XIII. | Labourers and others (branch of labour undefined) | 17,053 | 16,837 | 5.39 | 216 | 0.09 |
| VI. Indefinite and non-productive | XIV. | Persons of property and rank (not returned under any office or occupation) | 739 | 519 | 0.17 | 220 | 0.08 |
| VI. Indefinite and non-productive | XV. | Persons supported by the community, and of no specified occupation | 4,202 | 2,864 | 0.92 | 1,338 | 0.5 |
| | | Total of specified occupations | 576,006 | 309,791 | | 266,215 | |
| | | Occupations not stated | 2,476 | 2430 | 0.78 | 46 | .02 |
| | | Total population | 578,482 | 312,221 | 100 | 266,261 | 100 |

## Māori census

Māori census information was collected by officials who visited each settlement and spoke to the people there, rather than having them fill in forms. Enumerators had to overcome distrust and suspicion about why the information was required, as some Māori thought that their names and ages might be used by the government to impose a new tax. Local chiefs were asked to help the enumerators gather information.
Officials were concerned about an apparent drop in the Māori population but in some cases found it difficult to count people as the population was quite nomadic. In Thames, the Māori birth rate had decreased. The local newspaper reported: "It is to be feared that when the census returns come to hand, it will be found that the Ngatimaru and the neighbouring tribes have diminished in numbers to an alarming degree. The adoption of European vices, which the natives are ever more ready to assume than the corresponding virtues, has been an active principle in the process of depopulation". Spencer von Sturmer, reporting the results of the Māori census in Hokianga, stated that although many children were born to Māori in his district, only a few survived infancy. He blamed this on poor food, exposure, lack of ordinary care and cleanliness, and the ministrations of tohunga. Work in harsh conditions on the gumfields contributed to the poor health of Māori in the area.
Māori farmed sheep, cattle and pigs and cultivated potatoes, oats and maize, but enumerators reported that Māori had different ideas of ownership, exaggerating or guessing stock numbers as many animals were owned communally and allowed to run wild. Maori in the Hutt Valley grew strawberries and vegetables to sell in Wellington.$^{:11}$
| North Island: principal tribes, showing change from 1881 | 1881 | 1886 |
| Arawa | 3,938 | 3,184 |
| Muaupoko | 81 | 91 |
| Ngaiterangi | 996 | 992 |
| Ngapuhi | 5,564 | 5,549 |
| Ngatiawa | 1,869 | 2,067 |
| Ngatikahungunu | 4,730 | 5,175 |
| Ngatimaniapoto | 1,528 | 1,685 |
| Ngatimaru | 1,349 | 1,580 |
| Ngatiporou | 4,381 | 3,287 |
| Ngatiraukawa | 1,443 | 2,192 |
| Ngatiruanui | 769 | 1,065 |
| Ngatiwhatua | 487 | 596 |
| Rangitane | 89 | 105 |
| Rarawa | 2,775 | 2,034 |
| Taranaki | 460 | 947 |
| Urewera | 1,850 | 1,001 |
| Waikato | 5,233 | 4,000 |
| Whakatohea | 625 | 845 |
| Whanau-a-Apanui | 748 | 617 |
| Whanganui | 2,560 | 1,440 |
| Unspecified | 126 | 175 |
| Population North Island | 41,601 | 39,527 |
| Population South Island and Stewart Island | 2,061 | 2,046 |
| Population Chatham Islands (including Moriori) | 125 | 195 |
| Māori Prisoners from North Island in South Island Gaols | 310 | |
| Maori wives living with European husbands | | 201 |
| Grand total | 44,097 | 41,969 |