The Migratory Pathways of Labourers and Legislation: From Érin to Aotearoa

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

It was a privilege to review such a fascinating paper. I agree with the author's argument that it is important to consider both the micro and macro processes of colonization. And indeed this paper succeeds in weaving together both structure and agency.  I am left wanting a little more detail about the subject's activities in New Zealand. I appreciate that (unfortunately!) letters and diaries do not survive from the area. But, a bit more about the plunder of Parihaka pa in 1881 might be useful for readers who are  unacquainted with the history. I think just a few more sentences on that topic would be useful. Of course, I am also interested Andrew Gilhooly's management of his properties in New Zealand; even if it is just a description of the roles occupied by such colonial-settlers in that context. That comment is not meant as a condition of my acceptance. I am ready to sign off on it now. Just as a thought for how an important paper could be a touch more impactful. Regardless, it is, I think, a worthy contribution to the literature. 

Author Response

Thank you for such a generous assessment of the paper. I'll certainly add in the additional detail regarding Parihaka. And I, too, would love to know more about how Andrew managed those farms! But I've been spectacularly unsuccessful at finding anything at all about this (or about him for that matter). My family seems to have been proficient at throwing stuff out - letters, diaries, records. Small acts of forgetting ...

Thanks again, and with best wishes

Reviewer 2 Report

The history covered in this paper is fascinating and the story extremely well told. The paper makes an important and original contribution to scholarship on colonial New Zealand. The story of the author's great-grandfather straddles the colonisation of Ireland and New Zealand, vividly illustrating how the poor and dispossessed from one colony became the tools of empire in another (as the poor continue to make up the bulk of the military in many nations). The bitter irony of how the colonisaton of Ireland flowed into the colonisation of New Zealand is carefully laid out, both through the author's ancestor's story and the use of legislative and policy templates from Ireland in the establishment of the Armed Constabulary in New Zealand and the Suppression of Rebellion Act of 1863. A real strength of the paper is how powerfully it demonstrates the ways in which structures (policy and institutions) and individual human agency (such as that of Andrew Gilhooly and his companions) are woven together to produce the colonising project.

This is really fascinating and beautifully detailed history and the author has been very evenhanded in their assessment of their own ancestor's possible motivations and orientations.

If I have one suggestion to make for an addition to the current paper, it would be that a brief overview of the campaign against Parihaka be included - between the current Sections 4 & 5 would be an ideal place for this, or even just a paragraph at the end of Section 4 or the beginning of Section 5.

Author Response

Many thanks for your lovely words about the article - I do appreciate them. And I take the point about some additional content regarding Parihaka, and for the suggestion about where that might go (which reviewers don't always include!).

Thanks again, and with best wishes