Description

James McGeoch''s headstone, which can be found at the
Symonds Street
cemetery in Auckland, New Zealand, carries a simple
sentiment in the
Scottish dialect that resonates with first
generation migrants
everywhere: "It was hard to die frae hame''.
This book is an investigation into the experiences
of death and
mourning among nineteenth-century Scottish migrants
to New Zealand.
It is simultaneously an investigation of deathways,
a migration study, a
consideration of the working class experience, and a
tentative venture
into the history of emotion. Using a diverse range
of sources, including
New Zealand coroners'' reports, gravestone
inscriptions, and personal
autobiographical accounts as written in journals,
diaries and letters,
this study highlights the complexity and variety of
migrants''
experiences of death and attempts to uncover the
multiple meanings of
these experiences.