We are delighted that one of our postgraduate members, Peita Ferens-Green, has graduated with a First Class Honours Masters degree.
Peita’s thesis, supervised by our director, Professor Angela McCarthy, and History staff member Associate Professor John Stenhouse, examined the working life of Thomas Ferens, a migrant from Durham to early Otago.
Thesis Abstract
This thesis is a case study of Thomas Ferens, a Methodist lay preacher from England. Utilising personal testimony, it follows his life in New Zealand from 1848 – 1888, focussing upon his various occupational pursuits to explore how his sense of ‘self’ affected his migrant experience, analysing how he navigated life in the settlement, and how he was influenced by the world around him. Typically, migrant scholars using personal testimony focus on those of a (literate) middle to upper class status. A focus on Ferens, however, provides a working-class perspective. He similarly offers a perspective on Methodists in the Scottish Presbyterian Otago settlement. This work engages with studies of missionaries, religion in New Zealand, intercultural relations and constructs of self/other. It also addresses the impact of runholding and declaration of hundreds in North Otago and the need for personal mobility, both geographical and occupational, in this early period of settlement.
